Media Player will not play avi codecs!

[Steve Thon]

This happened once beforebut I got it solved somehow. Now, after having to
wipe out the computer and re-install XP, I am having the same problem all
over again. I only get sound from AVI files but no video. Media player
DL's the codecs each time I run a new AVI but to no avail. Some don't even
play at all! Can anyone tell me how to fix this? I will be eternally
greatfull.... or at least untill the next install.

Steve

 

[dev]

/Steve Thon/ said:

This happened once beforebut I got it solved somehow. Now, after having to
wipe out the computer and re-install XP, I am having the same problem all
over again. I only get sound from AVI files but no video. Media player
DL's the codecs each time I run a new AVI but to no avail. Some don't even
play at all! Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

Try http://divx.com
Install their DIVX codec. It's not necessary to install anything else.

 

[Steve Thon]

This happened once beforebut I got it solved somehow. Now, after having

Try http://divx.com
Install their DIVX codec. It's not necessary to install anything else.

Thank you for the advice. I am sure it will help for the Divx files,
unfortunaty even the Divx player is not playing some of the files that I am
trying to play. I keep getting the same message from media player....
"Error downloading codec" . And btw, yes I rebooted. Is there anything
else I can do here? I did not have this problem before the re-install.
Even avi files that worked before no longer play anything other than sound.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Look for a utility called "gspot". It's a program that will analyize the
avi file to see what codecs are required, whether they are installed, etc.

There are a *LOT* of codecs for the avi files. Too many. It's really a
guessing game as to which codec you need. That's why utilities such as
gspot help.

And MediaPlayerClassic (an open source media player that looks like the
older v6.4 in Win98) can even go to it's own website and tell you what codec
is needed.

You may just need to reinstall the codecs. Even if they are already
installed, it's possible their registry entries are damaged.

 

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[David Senior [MVP - Most Valuable Provocateur]]

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http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm
http://dougknox.com http://aumha.org
http://support.microsoft.com

--
I use non Microsoft products wherever possible which requires no activation.

I use Netscape 7.2 as my default browser which has everything I need for my work.

I believe in good Financial Management!! I do not believe in enriching rich jerks!

 

[Steve Thon]

Look for a utility called "gspot". It's a program that will analyize the

avi file to see what codecs are required, whether they are installed, etc.

There are a *LOT* of codecs for the avi files. Too

This is nuts! Gspot worked, but why must I run around the internet
installing .exe install files to get codecs when media player always used to
install codecs automatically? What has changed?

Steve

 

[Jim Macklin]

Set WMP to download and install codecs. But codecs change
and often you will need to update or even (gasp) use another
media player because WMP doesn't do everything. When I need
different player I use JetAudio. It will do Real media and
doesn't load a bunch of adware/spyware the way REAL does.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


|> Look for a utility called "gspot". It's a program that
will analyize the
| > avi file to see what codecs are required, whether they
are installed, etc.
| >
| > There are a *LOT* of codecs for the avi files. Too
|
| This is nuts! Gspot worked, but why must I run around the
internet
| installing .exe install files to get codecs when media
player always used to
| install codecs automatically? What has changed?
|
| Steve
|
|

 

[Alex Nichol]

This happened once beforebut I got it solved somehow. Now, after having to
wipe out the computer and re-install XP, I am having the same problem all
over again. I only get sound from AVI files but no video. Media player
DL's the codecs each time I run a new AVI but to no avail.

They are likely to be using the DivX codec, that came out after XP, get
it from
http://www.divx.com/divx/?src=toptab_divx_from_/software/index.php


Note that this codec can result in Explorer hanging or even crashing if
you open a folder with such AVI files. I understand this has been fixed
in the latest DivX release, but be warned

 

[Guest]

This is nuts! Gspot worked, but why must I run around the internet
installing .exe install files to get codecs when media player always used
to install codecs automatically? What has changed?

Because Windows Media Player will only automatically download *Microsoft*
codecs. (And a few approved others.) And if you have WMP9 (and if you have
sp2, you do), then you already have all of Microsoft's codecs. (Except for
the Indeo codecs, which were removed in newer versions of XP.)

And Microsoft no longer does new AVI codecs. They do WMV and WMA codecs now
because that's their prefered format. (There are some significant
limitations to avi, actually.)

The only Microsoft AVI codecs around are the old ones. The ones from Win95
and Win98 days.

The reality is you probably already have those old codecs. But few people
use them because they are so low quality.

Instead they'll use newer stuff. Such as Divx, Divx3, and a whole bunch of
others. (Although some use older ones, because they don't know any better.)

But since they aren't Microsoft's codecs, you can't get them from Microsoft.
(Well, I think you can get a few non-microsoft ones there, but not the more
popular current ones.)

There is no 'official' codec repository. Microsoft sort of tried to do that
by having wmp check microsoft.com, but they didn't really do it well and
don't maintain it. (If WMP can't even go there and check, and
automatically download required codecs, you probably have it disabled and
perhaps blocked by your firewall.)


It is indeed a mess. That's why utilities like gspot etc. exist.

AVI was designed to be a generic audio video container, but no real way was
developed to handle the large number of codecs the user might encounter.
(Remember, avi was developed many many years ago. I think Win3 had it. It
was certainly in Win95.)

Windows Media Player can check Microsoft and see what's there. But since
they aren't Microsoft codecs, you can't get most of them there.

The user is usually on their own.

That's also why some people install those warez "codec packs", which contain
a lot of codecs that you might possibly need. However I strongly recommend
against those because they are warez. You've got no idea what else they
might be doing. They might not even be correctly doing what they claim they
are doing.