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  1. What's the best codec pack for playing AVI, WMV, MPG, ASF, MOV, RM? I use media player classic, just did a format and re-install of windows. Any advice?
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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    There isn't one. Period. Most codec packs break more than they help.

    You basically need the following:

    1) MP3 Codec (Radium)
    2) AC3 Filter
    3) MPEG2 Codec
    4) FFDShow
    5) OGG-Vorbis package (lots of good things with ogg, for sound).

    That's it. If you are going to encode DivX or XviD then install those codecs individually. MPEG1/2 Encoding comes with whatever encoder you use.

    All of the above are available for free over in the tools section. Get the fourcc changer also, it will help with XviD/DivX playback issues sometimes (it's an app, you don't install it, you modify an AVI with it).

    EDIT: Forgot the WMV9 codec pack if and only if you really need it, it fubars certan DivX3 files, but FFDShow will deal with it. MOV usually requires quicktime, but it's such a spyware biatch to deal with. RM is even worse for spyware.
    To Be, Or, Not To Be, That, Is The Gazorgan Plan
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  4. Thank you Gazorgan, for the info. But, I still cannot view WMV, or most AVI. I have tried all I can find with zero luck... Can anybody tell me how to remove all codec from my machine and start over? (without re-formatting)

    Thanks!
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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    i've done well with the nemo codec pack.
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  6. I just installed Nimo codec pack. I have MPG and WMV working, but they are upside down! Help!
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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  7. Uninstall nimo and install the k-lite codec pack. It's much better.
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  8. OK, I have k-lite installed now... fixed the upside down problem, but I still cannot play about half of my movies.
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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    I told you, but oh well. As an FYI, you can't actually un-install the Nemo Codec pack, it leaves way too much behind.

    Do you want to know why you can't play them? It's simple. You have multiple ways to render each video. The problem is some of those ways don't work.

    Try this. Get the fourcc changer. Read the 4cc header for videos that play and don't play. You will find that certain headers don't render correctly. No Problem. You can change certain headers (most notably change xvid to divx) and get them to play correctly. This is probably simpler than trying to re-assign the 60 or so AVI header types currently floating around. The real culprits are usually DivX 5 encodes, since there are many variations. Ultimately you want to find out which AVI's aren't rendering properly, this will tell you what codec (dll really) is out of date.

    Also let's not forget that a good 75% of downloadable AVI's are pure crap. Cookie cutter encodes that don't understand things like keyframes and indexes.
    To Be, Or, Not To Be, That, Is The Gazorgan Plan
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  10. Member dcsos's Avatar
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    Lissen to GAZORGAN

    don't use packs

    use each codec seperately and re boot between each install..even on XP
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  11. Gordion knot codec pack rules all.

    www.doom9.org
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    the k-lite pack does work very well but once you've installed them all you're pretty much screwed. you really need to completely remove them all and then only install the k-lite pack and only the codecs you need.
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  13. Can anyone tell me how to remove all codec from my machine and start over? (without re-formatting)
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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    It's a simple process, very simple. The hard part is of course identifying what's installed.

    This is for W2K. It works for XP if you take away all the M$ BS about hiding everything from you.

    1) Start/settings/Control Panel/Sounds and MultiMedia

    2) Click on the Hardware Tab (yeah I know)

    3) Double click on Video Codecs then hit the properties tab. Looky there...your video codecs. Notice there is a Remove button.

    Now the hard part is determining what's what. The plain DLL's are usually the culprits. Windows comes with certain built in by default (Cinepack/Indeo/RLE/Microsoft).
    To Be, Or, Not To Be, That, Is The Gazorgan Plan
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  15. Thank you! Wow, that WAS easy. I overlooked the obvious. Funny thing is, after removing all the video codecs... Still most of my movies play... I'll go back to your list now and install only those you reccomeded. Thanks again.

    Oh, I'm running 98SE.
    2 DVD, or not 2 DVD, that is the question.
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  16. if you want to view rm files i reccomend *real alternative* it uses mediaplayer classic along with some dlls and splitters to render the files. that way you dont have to install the spyware ridden real player and the like.
    again to view .mov movies you can install a similar program to the above called *quicktime alternative* it too uses media player classic.

    for everything else i would go with gazorgans response ffdshow will dramatically decrease cpu usage when viewing divx/xvid files.
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    Originally Posted by cim
    Can anyone tell me how to remove all codec from my machine and start over? (without re-formatting)
    Given that you have only just formatted your computer for whatever reason, I'd say the best bet would be for you to format it again - as you obviously won't have had time to reconfigure everything as you had it before - so you shouldn't have much to lose by doing this.

    Then when you've done that, this time listen to what Gazorgan is telling you and ignore all the other idiots here who are telling you to install Nimo/K-Lite/Gordian Knot codec packs.

    As you have already been told, codec packs are the very worst thing you can ever do to a computer. They are the very quickest way of ph*cking everything up - guaranteed!!

    I had a perfectly tuned and tweaked installation of W98SE which was running like a dream until I foolishly installed the Nimo codec pack. 12 hours later I was reformatting the HDD. That codec pack broke just about every multimedia application installed on the computer in one easy step.

    Get AVIcodec and analyse whatever it is you want to play and install ONLY the codecs you need for that particular file. In a very short time you'll have only about 4 or 5 codecs installed which will work for 99% of the files you're ever going to get. This is a far cry from the 70 or 80 you get with a codec pack and far safer too.
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  18. Member steptoe's Avatar
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    I agree here ........

    I've tried a couple of codec packs, and they install virtually every codec around, which does lead to major conflicts eventually

    When you uninstall them, they uninstall everything, even codec that Windows installs with, so then you have to start all over again, hunting down illusive codec, just so you can get your system running the minimum

    Stick to what was said, and use AVICodec, or GSpot to identify what codec a movie needs to play (assuming it won't play) then install that codec and tr again

    If that movie plays happily, leave the codec alone, until you get a movie that won't play again as it hasn't got the codec (video or audio) it needs and repeat the above step

    Like before you should only need maybe 3 or 4 codec, and if you use DivX movies, the DivX codec

    Don't install the codec packs, there are a pain in the arse

    Yes, they do work, but yes they DO screw up your system as they can overwrite latest codec with possibly buggy ones or codec they just doesn't like working with others and the system does start to get confused when it comes to play a movie with a common codec and finds it has numerous ones to choose from

    I've found out the hard way, luckily I have a very good idea how to cure the vast majority of strange MS problems and some very good software that does the job for me and has repaired various problems that have been created by installing crappy software, with crappy installers and horrendous 'remove all' uninstallers
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  19. Member steptoe's Avatar
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    Also, try running a movie through MS Player 8/9, it can help sometimes by downloading a missing codec for you. If that won't play it, then you need a codec, it tries to play damn near everything

    Just a shame its bloatware in the extreme, trying to do everything, but not quite managing to do one thing better than the rest

    This is proved by the sheer number of alternative media players


    Personally I use Crystal Player Pro, but use MS Player to test play MPEG2 files as Crystal Player Pro don't like them for some reason
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    Originally Posted by steptoe
    Also, try running a movie through MS Player 8/9, it can help sometimes by downloading a missing codec for you. If that won't play it, then you need a codec, it tries to play damn near everything
    You don't need WMP 7, 8 or even 9 to do this. WMP 6.4 will do this too. There is nothing to be gained by having WMP 7/8/9 in fact unless you like bloat I guess. WMP 6.4 is more than good enough for most basic viewing requirements.

    One problem you are likely to have with the automatic MS codec download in WMP is if you come across a video file using WMA v2 audio. The MS WMA v2 audio codec which gets downloaded by WMP and is included in 98/ME/2K/XP doesn't work. It is corrupt and you need a slightly hacked version of it to get it to work. You can either search for this on Google or ask me for it if you ever need it. Fortunately, no-one uses the WMA v2 audio codec anymore anyway, so it's fairly unlikely that you'll come across a video file using this codec. I have only found 2 myself.
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    Originally Posted by DRP
    Then when you've done that, this time listen to what Gazorgan is telling you and ignore all the other idiots here who are telling you to install Nimo/K-Lite/Gordian Knot codec packs.

    As you have already been told, codec packs are the very worst thing you can ever do to a computer. They are the very quickest way of ph*cking everything up - guaranteed!!

    I had a perfectly tuned and tweaked installation of W98SE which was running like a dream until I foolishly installed the Nimo codec pack. 12 hours later I was reformatting the HDD. That codec pack broke just about every multimedia application installed on the computer in one easy step.
    It's the idiots who insist on checking every box of the installer and installing every codec known to man, not bothering to read or even look at what they are installing, that's the real problem. I just reinstalled Win98SE on a new hard drive and then only installed K-lite and only those codecs I knew I was going to need. Now I can play all the files I have and convert them in TMPGEnc if I want with no problems at all.
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  22. the post author asked what is the best codec pack so i said gordion knot codec pack. Normally I would not recommend codec packs for the above reasons.

    heres a breakdown of what to install.

    Install divx 3.11 (Why? Because it has divx audio codec for divx 3, which www.divx.com v 4 and 5 do not have.
    install divx 5(whichever your flavour, www.divx.com
    install Xvid http://www.filemirrors.com/search.src?file=XviD-04102002-1.exe
    Download windows media codecs package http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx
    install your favorite DVD playing software (for mpeg 2 and Ac3 codec)

    After doing just these steps, you will be hardpressed to find a file you can't play.

    last but not least, you may possibly run into vpx series codec. VP 6 is free for personal use now www.on2.com


    Save all these files in one place and you will be good to go.

    With regards to divx 5, the free version will play all divx content with all the features. The pro version has enhanced features for encoding only, so if you don't encode the free will work great for you and no spyware.

    And for giggles, if you wish, you can FFDshow which can decompress various mpeg 4 files, but I only recommend it if you are having a file that is playing with errors here and there.
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  23. Hi,

    I followed the instructions -- removed all questionable codecs, and installed just those codecs mentioned in this thread -- but I still can't view DIVX avi's. I was hoping to keep my Windows Media Player 6.4 as default player, and be able to watch most files by just double-click on the files. As of now, all mpegs play just fine, but none of the avi files would play in WMP 6.4 at all (error message saying "format not supported".) PowerDVD and BSPlayer will not play either.

    Media Player Classic will render the avi files -- the audio seems OK, but the video look like it's in super-slow motion, and completely not in sync with the audio. Is there any other way to troubleshoot what I'm doing wrong?

    Thanks in advance...

    Spiffy
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    All codec packs are garbage and lead to more problems than it would ever fix.
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  25. Spiffy: Runt he avifourcc changer (xvid should install it, oif it doesnt then install it)
    Run it and browse to the avi file. See what the fourcc code is and report back here.

    Personallym, it sounds like an incimplete avi file. Try loading it in virtualdub. then go file>file information.
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  26. Results from AVI FourCC Code Changer (unaltered)

    AVI #1: Description Code -- DX50
    Used Codec -- Ð

    AVI #2: Description Code -- div4
    Used Codec -- DIV3

    AVI #3: Description Code -- xvid
    Used Codec -- XVID

    AVI #4: Description Code -- DIVX
    Used Codec -- DX50

    None of them will play in Windows Media Player 6.4, which is what I'm trying to do. #3 will play in the latest version of DIVX player (5.11), but as soon as I roll back the player to 5.08, it won't play again. I tried changing the Used Codec to match the Description Code to a fifth file, but still nothing will play, and in fact I crashed Media Player Classic that way. I really rather not use any of the alternative players anyway -- for the longest time, I was able to play most avi files from WMP 6.4. But I made the mistake of trying to add new codecs so it will play xvid properly -- and now everything's screwed up and no avi files can be played by WMP 6.4.

    My old setup was as follows:

    Windows 2000 Pro
    Windows Media Player 6.4
    PowerDVD XP

    AC3 Filter
    DIVX 3, 4 & 5.08
    Elisoft Codec Pack (it worked for most of the formats, except xvid and some SVCD mpegs -- but I just used PowerDVD XP instead)

    Tried to uninstall everything and used the old setup didn't change things back to before either.

    If anybody can please help, I'd really appreciate it.

    Spiffy
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  27. Either that(all of the listed above) or just use VLC. It doesen't need codecs to play stuff.



    8)

    Good luck.
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  28. Not ALL codec packs are garbage.

    Every codec pack that's NOT Defilerpak is garbage, however.

    Granted, it's not really a codec pack, per se. It's a decoder pack, which avoids a lot of the nasty nastiness that things like Nimo or whatever spew around. Defiler's taken great care in constructing this pack, with a minimum of what's needed to ensure quality playback. This includes:

    ffdshow
    AC3Filter
    CoreAAC DirectShow filter
    Ogg DirectShow filter
    CoreVorbis
    Matroska DirectShow filter
    VSFilter
    DivX Audio - Just in case.

    That's it. Not intended for encoding, obviously, but it works without a hitch for playback of most of the stuff you run into out there.
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  29. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    CODEC = COmpressorDECompressor
    Decoder is synonym for DECompressor.

    Again, all trash, no matter who makes it.
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