Want to use K-Lite? - DON'T DO IT!

[AlanHK]

I never thought authors of various codecs would like having their stuff chopped up and rolled into something else, especially something that made it seem like you needed it in order to run some p2p software.

And some of them had been very vocally opposed to it in the past. I believe a few even changed their licensing because of it. But it's been years since much of that happened. K-lite has more or less been forgotten, something that is now mostly used by fools and the clueless.

You seem to remember it well enough. Even though you can't actually say what it does wrong.
Now. Not 10 years ago, when it was immature and flaky, now.

Just keep heaping vicious abuse on it and on ayone who has used it.

[lordsmurf]

Even though you can't actually say what it does wrong.

It installs conflicting software that totally screws up a computer. End of story.

The only scenario that K-lite seems to be any good at is this:

1. On a new system, with nothing else installed. (No conflicts possible, assuming the pack doesn't conflict internally -- which it often has.)
2. Manually selecting what you want k-lite to install, thus treating it like a buffet. You only pick what you want. (i.e., You're too lazy to go get the codecs one by one yourself, but still not completely clueless about codecs.)
3. At times when it truly has all the updated versions of the codecs you want.

Those 3 things almost never happen at the same time.

• Installing codecs on an existing system can cause problems. (Conflicts that can damaged the system registry, DirectX, etc)
• Rarely would a "pack" have the regular updates you'd find at the official sites of the codec developers.
• Most people are not knowledgeable, and install everything without knowing any better.

Just keep heaping vicious abuse on it and on ayone who has used it.

No, not at all. I feel sorry for anybody that's used it.

I save the "vicious abuse" for anybody that suggests this is a smart way to install codecs. Newbies believe this BS, and they are the ones that end up with the screwed up computers. Suggesting somebody use a "codec pack" to fix a codec issue is as irresponsible as suggesting "format c:" as the fix for drive space issues.

You would take care to notice that not one single hardware manufacturer, OS maker, software developer -- or anybody else, aside from goombas in forums -- ever suggests the use of a codec pack.

I'm not going to go into this any further, I think I've made my point well enough.

[AlanHK]

Even though you can't actually say what it does wrong.

It installs conflicting software that totally screws up a computer. End of story.

Again, you fail to specify what conflicts.
At a guess, you've never used it yourself. You have nothing except second and third hand anecdotes.


And if it did "totally screw up a computer" in most, or many cases, it would hardly still be going after all these years. It's totally free, has no adware or nags. It only exists because a lot of people find it useful.

The only scenario that K-lite seems to be any good at is this:

1. On a new system, with nothing else installed. (No conflicts possible, assuming the pack doesn't conflict internally -- which it often has.)
2. Manually selecting what you want k-lite to install, thus treating it like a buffet. You only pick what you want. (i.e., You're too lazy to go get the codecs one by one yourself, but still not completely clueless about codecs.)
3. At times when it truly has all the updated versions of the codecs you want.

1. K-Lite can resolve existing codec conflicts. That's one major reason to use it.
2. That of course is what you're supposed to do. It will also help you shoot yourself in the foot if you don't pay attention.
3. It's updated about once a month. (changelogs). If you really have to have the very latest version of everything more frequently, well no, it's probably not for you.

1. Installing codecs on an existing system can cause problems. (Conflicts that can damaged the system registry, DirectX, etc)
2. Rarely would a "pack" have the regular updates you'd find at the official sites of the codec developers.
3. Most people are not knowledgeable, and install everything without knowing any better.

1. Yes. So users should never install or update any codecs is what you advocate, presumably.
2. See updates as mentioned earlier. Though really, who cares what version you have if it works.
3. True. It's not idiot proof. Nothing is when it comes to codecs, you can screw them up just as thoroughly if you download them all separately. But at least you'll save time doing so with a codec pack.

Just keep heaping vicious abuse on it and on ayone who has used it.

No, not at all. I feel sorry for anybody that's used it.

I save the "vicious abuse" for anybody that suggests this is a smart way to install codecs. Newbies believe this BS, and they are the ones that end up with the screwed up computers. Suggesting somebody use a "codec pack" to fix a codec issue is as irresponsible as suggesting "format c:" as the fix for drive space issues.

Just more abuse unsupported by any details.

You would take care to notice that not one single hardware manufacturer, OS maker, software developer -- or anybody else, aside from goombas in forums -- ever suggests the use of a codec pack.

The manufacturers, OS makers, software developers make THEIR OWN CODEC PACKS that often unilaterally replace any existing codecs and disable other software. They don't call them "codec packs", you just notice that you have a bunch of new codecs that have muscled in after you install some software. However they do not install the free and efficient codecs like ffdshow, but ones, often much out of date, that they have some licensing deal with.

I'm not going to go into this any further,

If only that were true.

[deadmeow]

I have used K Lite for many years, and the boogie man never got me. I must be one of the lucky ones. I use it whenever I reinstall windows. If other people have problems, I don't blame them to find something that works better.

[DarrellS]

When you install K-Lite codec pack, you have the option to not install the conflicting software which stops all the codecs from installing and only installs the codec tools...

...or you can just download the K-Lite CodecTweakTool which does not install anything at all. This tool allows you to set thumbnail options and detect damaged codecs and filters.

IMO, codec packs are for people who are too lazy to look for, download and install the correct codecs that they need to play and edit files. Even ffdshow can be more trouble than it's worth if you don't know how to set it up (conflicting codecs). I don't choose any file types at install and only set up certain VFW codecs after installation for editing with Virtualdub. For everything else, I download and install the correct codecs.

The new K-Lite codec packs are better than the older ones but if you already have a bunch of codecs and splitters installed and decide to install over them, I guarantee that you'll run into problems. On the otherhand, if you install it correctly, you probably won't run into any problems, maybe.

[AlanHK]

The new K-Lite codec packs are better than the older ones but if you already have a bunch of codecs and splitters installed and decide to install over them, I guarantee that you'll run into problems. On the otherhand, if you install it correctly, you probably won't run into any problems, maybe.

Actually, it should detect existing codecs and offer to uninstall them and replace them with its own version. It doesn't force you to do so, like everything it does you have to at least click okay. Anyway, the reason I gave it another chance after listening to the disparaging comments here for so long is that I had a screwed up set of codecs and after a few hours trying to fix it myself thought I had nothing to lose, so I installed K-Lite. And it worked, for me and got rid of the conflicting settings and duplicate codecs installed by a stupid conversion utility. Just one anecdote, I don't say it's infallible.

The basic issue is that Microsoft never made a simple open structure to administer codecs. (Unlike, say fonts, which are pretty painless now.) So every codec you install -- and many media players and other software -- has to burrow into the registry to install itself, it can put its files anywhere at all, and some just make a mess in the process and/or screw up other applications. A codec pack is just a wrapper on a bunch of normal codecs that tries to install and organise them rationally.

[mediawiz]

It is funny how people who never even have tried a codec pack are always the ones criticizing them. Certainly with all these non-sense arguments that aren't backed up by any facts.

The K-Lite Codec Pack does not damage your system. That is an urban legend. People think it is 1337 to tell such stories but they are never able to present any factual evidence. This topic is another fine example.

Lets debunk some crappy arguments posted above:

1: "It install unwanted stuff." Wrong. It installs exactly what a user chooses to install.

2: "Installing more than you need is bad." Codecs are used only when an application needs them. Unneeded ones will simply not get used. So the worst thing they do is use a tiny bit of space. Of course less is better, but certainly not a necessity.

3: "It will damage your system." No it doesn't. No changes are made that aren't undone by the uninstaller. K-Lite even has the capability to remove broken stuff, a feature that has helped many to actually fix their computer.

4: "It messes with settings of other codecs." No it doesn't.

5: "It installs redundant stuff." Several popular third party codecs are detected and the installer adapts itself accordingly to avoid redundancy. Of course redundancy can occur when other multimedia applications are installed, because some of them install a lot of codecs as well. But that will also occur when installed for example ffdshow manually. Redundancy does not mean that there will actually be any problems. In any case, a pack can always be uninstalled, or individual components disabled with the supplied tools.

6: "Uninstalling a pack will cause problems." No it doesn't. It will only remove codecs installed by the pack and their settings. It does not touch any other software or settings. Things like file associations are neatly restored to backed up values from before installation.

7: "It contains too much stuff." It only contain things that are wanted by a significant percentage of users. By default only a subset of its contents is installed. Multiple variants of the pack exists, including two small ones. The small ones contain only the most essential components, which happen to be the same items that most codec pack haters recommend using. Isn't that ironic. People who criticize always ignore the small ones and only look at the largest variant.

8: "It causes codec conflicts." Anyone who knows a little bit about codecs knows that codecs don't actually conflict. What people generally really mean is incompatibilities between certain codecs and applications, or bugs in codecs that are triggered by specific files. Like any other piece of software, codecs are not perfect. So any codec that is used may give problems in certain situations. That is true for codecs installed by a pack, but also for manually installed codecs. In case of problems, a codec pack can simply be uninstalled, or individual codecs can be disabled with the included tools.

9: "It contains bad codecs." No. If you disagree, please give example.

10: "Installing many codecs at once makes it difficult to figure out which ones is the cause of a problem." It includes a tool which makes it very easy to (temporarily) disable the codecs installed by the pack. That makes it pretty easy to see if one of the items from the pack is the culprit, and it so which one.

11: "Many people have problems with this codec pack." Not really. It has millions of users. So when people have a problem it is very likely to get mentioned, even when it is not related to the actual problem. The vast majority of users are very satisfied. A pack also often gets blamed for bugs in specific popular components such as ffdshow. That is not really fair. Certainly not for components that are commonly used individually as well.

12: "It is not idiot proof." Nothing is. The contents of the pack and it default settings have been carefully chosen. A n00b is less likely to run into problems by installing a single codec pack, than if he would install various individual codecs at random to make his files play.

13: "It isn't up-to-date enough." It is updated about once every few weeks.

14: "You should just install X, Y, and Z. That's all you need." No. That is all YOU might need. To play all common formats you need a little more. But anyway, there are small variants of the codec pack as well that contain just the essential components you just mentioned.


Please supply actual facts about wrong doings, instead parroting stuff written by idiots on the Internet.

[budwzr]

I'm surprised at some of the posters I thought were fairly intelligent, jump on the anecdotal bandwagon linking K-Lite to their computer ills.

My wife claims hot weather causes earthquakes, so I just laugh her off. I guess I'll do the same here, there's no way to convince superstitious people otherwise anyway.

One thing the naysayers all have in common is they are "tinkerers". The first post is a perfect example, the OP starts off with "I reinstalled Windows so many times......" That's the dead giveaway.

[pirej]

I have 2 computers used for video editing etc, + 5~6 other people computers(used for media playing/surfing net) that i maintain if something goes wrong(usually viruses..), and i install K-lite on all of them.
And i never had any problems with k-lite in this 6-7 years...

p.s.
I had some problems related to file associations and codec settings ONLY after installing "format factory" or "film machine.."(i don't remember), one or bout of them installed they're own codec's and changed my system settings, so i had to uninstall them and reset/reconfigure my settings.

[budwzr]

That's very scientific.

I've seen the moon thousands of times, while reading on this site. Think there's a connection there too?

Having read thousands of cries for help on this site over the years, I've lost count of all the times I've read the phrase, "I installed the K-Lite codec pack," somewhere in so many of the posts.

[budwzr]

Anarchists arise! Slay thine enemies.

[Noahtuck]

It's good to know there is such a proficient expert on codec packs

But to many people live inside their little boxes and don't think about the other 90% of the worlds population that barely has the knowledge to turn on their PC's and treat them like a VCR or TV.

"I can't possibly screw anything up by installing every piece of crap i download"

I have yet to hear 1 good reason for using codec packs except "I'm lazy or too ignorant to know any better"

[pirej]

I'm lazy AND too ignorant to WANT any better

Little offtopic...
I work in a internet providing company, we have around 200.000+ customers.. and those that don't have problems(80-90%) don't call us to "say thank's".
All the customer call's we get are from those 10-20%.. and they are loud/demanding/complaining as hell, although the most of them have problems because of they're own misuse/abuse/error's/ignorance/don't know how to...

[budwzr]

Exactly! It's the Mac users. For chrissakes, they just don't get it, ever.

[AlanHK]

I have yet to hear 1 good reason for using codec packs except "I'm lazy or too ignorant to know any better"

We've been though this several times. I ask you for specific problem, you say "you're stupid if you use it", then some of your buddies jump in with some similar abuse, and you all feel vindicated.

You can't give any details because you've never even tried to use K-Lite, (correct me if I'm wrong), but you just "know" it's bad somehow.

[johns0]

Closing thread..