Codecs gone insane, nothing works

[HeadRusch]

On my video machine, where NERO and some other apps are installed, I recently had something happen that, for the life of me, I can't figure out.

Suddenly, none of my AVI files will play, all of my .MOV and quicktime files fail with "DISC NOT INSERTED" errors, and sometimes when I try to play an mpg or an mpeg clip...instead of actually getting the video output, I get 720x480 clips of BLADE 2!!!! I ***THINK**** this has something to do with an MPEG2 codec I once tried to install a looong time ago, but the wacky thing is I haven't had the problem creep up in AGES.

WTF!?!?!?! I play a 30 second mpeg file and instead I see like 30 seconds of Blade2...and I dont even own blade 2!!!! Blade 2 the movie, with Wesley Snipes!

I have Pinnacle Instantcopy installed, as well as Pinnacle Studio 7 for doing capturing and editing. I also have an older version of POWERDVD....so I've got an MPEG2 decoder!

I mainly use Mediaplayer Classic for playback and getting info on clips (ie: video resolution and such on a clip), but I went and looked on my HD...and holy cripes, there was no visible install of Windows Mediaplayer at *all*.
I dont remember REMOVING it....

The only thing i have done recently is use TMPGENC to do a ton of file conversions from .AVI to MPEG.....and all of those ran just fine, and now all this is going on. I dont know whats happening. I haven't intsalled any codec packs, any new viersions of divx or anything, nothing like that.

Help me clean out my system and get all this stuff working again!!!
Help!

[abc-123]

I think that's the funniest problem I've ever read on these boards. Sorry man, I don't mean to laugh at your pain but you must admit it's remarkably absurd.

If you don't have Blade2 and never had it (so there isn't a temp image hidden somewhere on your hardrive from years ago) I'm thinking you probably picked up a virus somewhere. First, get some bearings. Try to play a clip again and when blade2 shows up, do a cntrl+alt+delete and see exactly which programs are running. See if there's anything there that is new or doesn't belong that is most likely pulling up the blade flick.

Then do a search of your disk for all files created after a specific date, the date when you started having this problem with the blade file. See if you can actually FIND the blade file, since it must sit somewhere on your hardrive in order to play. Then check the accompanying files in that folder. You're looking for exe's that could be a virus.

If it's not a virus and if it does come from an old ghost copy on your hardrive.... good luck to ya there since I wouldn't know where to begin with that one. I'd suggest uninstalling all your codecs and codec packages and reinstalling one by one. (Personally, I'd do a fresh install of the whole pc if I could get away with it. It sounds like it might need it and this would be just the right time.)

Good luck to you and remember, if you can't laugh at it, you end up crying.

[HeadRusch]

I'm uninstalling everything right now...but the BLADE2 clip I SEEM to recall came this way:

Once upon a time I think I was on some german site that offered a MPEG2 codec......on their site they had clips of BLADE2, I think.......all this is from years ago I'm afraid. I almost think that the MPEG2 codec I grabbed from them is still installed somewhere, even tho I have lots of other software thats provided it for me...can't find any way to uninstall it if I dont know what it is. I dunno, its pure madness

But so far Quicktime, gone....xvid and divx codecs, gone....its all going....all of it!

[abc-123]

Hmmm... German codec.... trying to take over your whole computer.... ok, there's just too many nazzi jokes that I think I'll stay away from in the best interest of diplomacy. :P

One question. What did you do recently to piss this German codec off?

[HeadRusch]

Time to find a decent codec pack and not worry about it anymore I think!.

[abc-123]

Ooooook.

Try the newest version of Nimo codec pack, but DON'T install everything. You'll have worse problems than you do now. Nimo lets you pick and choose what you install in their latest version and I'd put them in one by one, only the bare essentials, and test after each one is installed to make sure it doesn't conflict with anything else.

Otherwise, stay away from "packs".