codec removal

[dvdrhelpbs]

hi,
first of all, the site is amazing. thank you to everyone who keeps it going.
now, the question: i am getting strange errors when converting video between formats (using virtualdub and tmpgenc). the research i've done leads me to believe that the problem is too many codecs installed.
my question is in two parts:
1- how can i remove the codecs that i have installed and start from scratch (other than reformatting my hard drive, of course)? is there a tool that does this? is using add/remove programs (on windows 2000) sufficient, or is registry editing the preferred method?
2- what codecs are the best to install, and is there a "codec pack" (zip file, whatever) that you can recommend? the formats i use are:
- divx
- xvid
- mpeg
- quicktime
- windows media
- real
the last two are only upon request from others.
thanks in advance for any help you can offer, and thanks again for the terrific site.

[dafreak]

1- how can i remove the codecs that i have installed and start from scratch (other than reformatting my hard drive, of course)? is there a tool that does this? is using add/remove programs (on windows 2000) sufficient, or is registry editing the preferred method?

I would recommend removing codecs from add/remove programs first. If you can't find the particular codec you want to get rid of, then remove them through your device manager.
in device manager, expand the sound, video and game controller tree.
double click on video codecs and click on the properties tab in the new window that comes up.
you will see a list of codecs here.
highlight the ones you don't want and click on remove

2- what codecs are the best to install, and is there a "codec pack" (zip file, whatever) that you can recommend? the formats i use are:
- divx
- xvid
- mpeg
- quicktime
- windows media
- real

the only codecs you should install are the ones that you need. do not install codec packs, etc. use gspot to determine what codecs you need to play a video, etc.

the codecs that i have are xvid, ffdshow, divx, mpg decoder and some other video/audio codecs.

[keyser soze]

If your o/s is xp you can disable them there aswell by ticking do not use this codec then if you find u need it later you could enable it again, not sure if this only applies to windows or the other software though.

[BJ_M]

use dxman to add and remove codecs -- its free and very handy

[keyser soze]

Nice program m8, I actually use max mem from the same maker thats good for freeing up ram but I never noticed DXman before, that probably because I've never needed it before

[teegee420]

Have a look at VCswap too. It allows you to unregister a specific codec and then re-enable it if need be. I like it even more than DXman.

[keyser soze]

Another nice bit of software, I need to slow down a bit and take each program at a time, too much good stuff too little knowledge