MSVC1 AVI's no longer play in Media Player - How to fix?

[Fairlight2cx]

I've been encoding movies from two sources (FRAPS and Easy Screen Recorder) for a while. I encode the FRAPS footage with the DiVX codec via VirtualDub, and that still works fine. However, due to the way the compression ratio turns out for desktop demos, Microsoft Video 1 is a better codec for screen capture movies.

Problem:

Microsoft Media Player will no longer play any AVI that uses Microsoft Video 1. I get an error box titled simply "Error" which gives the following contents:


OS: Windows 2000 Professional, SP4
CPU: GenuineIntel, Intel Pentium 4, MMX @ 1700 MHz

Application data:
VmVyc2lvbjogVVVKZFExQlRWbHRFVFVOSFF5c29PU2M1QndBNk pUOCt
[Snip more and more of the same dump for brevity's sake...it likely won't help anyone.]


So I can no longer play MVSC1 AVI's with Media Player. It lets me submit a bug report, but I'm not holding my breath. Have Media Player 9. It was fully updated. I even went and reinstalled it, as well as the codec packs (actually, codec packs first, then test, then media player 9, then test...two separate phases of attempted fixes). No joy. No change.

Easy Screen Capture can use multiple codecs. I can still use DiVX and get a working movie, but the same problem occurs with Media Player when I play back its movies if I use MS Video 1. The same is true of VirtualDub; movies encoded with DiVX play fine, but if I encode with MS Video 1, I get an error from Media Player when I play them back.

Doesn't appear to matter -what- I use to encode the video; if I use MS Video 1, it won't play in Media Player on my system. However, the same movies, copied to my wife's system (also Win2K with WMP9), play perfectly for her.

So, that doesn't seem to me to point to a codec issue, but rather a Media Player issue. The question is, how do I fix it? I've been through this site, Microsoft's site, tried reinstalling the codecs (when I thought it was a codec issue), then tried reinstalling WMP9. No joy anywhere. I'm hoping some kind soul here can help me figure out how to remedy this issue.

I wish I had a definitive point at which I could say this became an issue. The last non-DiVX movie I made before trying one last week was some months ago. I haven't really done anything to the operating system. I installed some new games, but that's about it. Didn't touch Media Player before it exhibited any problems. Hadn't installed new codecs (to my knowledge...could come with games) a long, long time--probably since I installed DiVX, which was the better part of a year back.

I'm totally open to suggestions.

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, SP4
Microsoft Media Player 9
P4-3GHz
2GB RAM
80/300/300 hard drive combo (680GB)
ATI Catalyst 5.13

I think that's all that's probably relevant here. If someone needs more, please advise.

Thanks!

[Krispy Kritter]

The problem with simply uninstalling and reinstalling any app, is that although the uninstall routine usually removes most/all of the actual program files, most often, the registry is not affected. So any config error or entry pointing to a bad codec within the registiry is still there after you uninstall/reinstall your app.

I would suggest uninstalling/removing any codec packs. Then use a program such as codec sniper to check your system for other installed codecs and remove any that are bad or not used (or better yet, remove then all). Then only install codecs as they are needed.

You could also switch to a completely different app such as VLC or MPC.

[Fairlight2cx]

Downloaded and looked at Codec Sniper. It doesn't even list Microsoft Video 1 in the list of installed codecs, despite the fact it is -definitely- installed (I can encode with it).

Not looking to change players. Just want this one fixed. I suspect it is something in the registry, but what? I've looked through the Media Player entries and am nonplussed. Nothing obvious is amiss. Only thought I had was to check that section of the registry against my wife's system, but it may not even be under Media Player, and the registry is a BIG place. :)

[sammie]

The issue is that Microsoft Video 1 (fourCC - CRAM) has been totally purged from every codec pack. I don't know if maybe there is nothing but a 16 bit version (this was an original Windows 3.1 codec). I've found a few papers that describe the file structure and encoding, but it's well beyond me to program that anymore.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have some old files that I need to recover and I'm desperate. I've been Googling for days and can't find anything that will allow playing this in Windows 98, 2000, or XP? Some Linux links, but my Linux box is in storage for at least the next few months. The only suggestion I've seen is ffmpeg, but either I can't get the command line right or current verisions of that don't include MSV 1 support either. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Ai Haibara]

You can always try something like SUPER - it's a front-end to ffmpeg and mencoder (among others) and may work in this case, without having to work out the command-line. (But, if the command-line's better for this particular problem, celtic_druid would be a better person to ask than me. ^_^; )