Do CODECS 'clutter' your PC??

[Rudyard]

My new PC will not be connected to the net and any codecs i need to install will have to be done from work and taken home on a disk. I was wondering as with video there seems to be many codecs needed for all different types of things if I installed a heap of codecs will I somehow 'clutter' my system or bog it down with lots of junk? Or do they simply sit idely by until they are needed and even if I had a million codecs there would be no strain on my system?

[redwudz]

If you install too many codecs, it will most likely corrupt your working codecs and may mess up your system enough that none of them will work.

Installing codec packs can cause similar problems.

The rule for me is: See what codec you need first by using a program like Gspot on an unknown or unplayable video. It will tell you what codec is needed. Then install only that codec. Getting rid of corrupted and conflicting codecs is much harder than installing them.

The only codec pack I would recommend is ffdshow as it has a good record.

[Rudyard]

oh ok, thanks redwuz.... i was going to install a heap so to avoid the problem of not being able to play a vid, waiting to go to work to get the codec and then getting it back home. I better just wait and see and put up with the inconvenience.

[ROF]

An idea I've done for others in your situation is to burn a bunch of codecs to an RW disc and as needed you can just use it to add codecs. I recommend using an RW so you can continue to add codecs to this disc or update older ones as needed.

[celtic_druid]

Codecs generally refers to VfW since dshow filters tend to be just a decoder or an encoder. The way VfW works, you can really have as many codecs as you want installed and it shouldn't be an issue as each has its own fourCC so it will always be used.

The only really bad example was I think a version of Panasonic DV codec. The way VfW works is that if there is nothing registered for a given FourCC, all other decoders are tried until one is found that will handle it, for example ffdshow when loading a DivX 3 file even though it isn't registered as DIV3. This codec though would accept anything even though there was no way it would handle it.

Directshow filters on the other hand work on a priority system. Filters with a higher merit get rendered and having lots of dshow filters installed can definatly do damage.

[redwudz]

You might start off by DLing VLC Media Player. It comes with it's own codecs installed, is very configurable, will play most anything, and it's free.

I usually put Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative in a new computer along with VLC to play these formats. It's a version of Media Player Classic. Along with the ffdshow codecs, these would cover the majority of videos you might encounter. For DVDs I still use an older version of PowerDVD as my favorite for that format.

I like ROF's idea also of having a archive of codecs available on disc. That would cover about anything. You may be to fit all the codecs available in 'Tools' to the left <<<<<<on one RW CD.

[ROF]

I like ROF's idea also of having a archive of codecs available on disc. That would cover about anything. You may be to fit all the codecs available in 'Tools' to the left <<<<<<on one RW CD.

Without a doubt they'll all fit on a single mini-cd which will easily store in the extra battery/hard drive compartment of your laptop.