[Problem] No video playback - Have to reinstall?

[Chaps]

Hi,
I'm sure you have read this problem quite a few times before, just I could'nt find the right answer, so sorry to bother you specialists again with that kind of problem... Here we go:
- About two weeks ago, i'll tried to open an .avi file (XviD codec), and I couldn't see the video in Windows media player. Surprised, I tried quite a few other players (real, windows player classic and even VLC)... nothing worked

-I thought, there was a sudden problem with my codecs. So I uninstalled them, and only reinstalled xvid and divx. And it worked (to be precise: it worked when I installed xvid codec but not divx one...)

-But that's not the end of the story! In fact, after using any other program than a video player, and trying to watch a video again, it turned out, I had to reinstall the xvid codec first. I hadn't time to check it any further, so that's how i lived (painfully) for more than a week. Today, I decided to uninstall every single little video codec I could come accross on my computer (using a thread found on afterdawn forum) to clean it up completely and only reinstall what Gspot tells me I need. Problem, since then, even if he tells me I have the right codec installed, I'm not able to see the video... not even with VLC.

So here's my question, is there any chance you know a way that could help me figure out what the problem is, without me reinstalling windows (wich I wouldn't really have time to do at the moment)??

Thanks!
PS 1: Yes, I know, my english is quite bad... sorry for all my mistakes

[redwudz]

The one odd item is VLC. Since it uses it's own internal codecs and doesn't use or depend on installed codecs. If it doesn't work, you likely don't have a codec problem, but possibly something wrong with the display settings.

You could try downloading a fresh copy of your video card drivers, uninstall the existing ones, reboot and install the fresh copy.

At least on my systems, Divx and Xvid get along fine with each other. You can also install ffdshow, which will let you play back Divx, Xvid, MPEG-2 and other popular formats. It's not a codec pack, so doesn't have their problems.

If the above doesn't cure the problem, another member may have some better ideas. It may be a problem in the OS, but I'm not sure where.

And welcome to our forums.

[poisondeathray]

If VLC cannot play it, I suspect something amiss with your video card and/or video card drivers. The reason being VLC has internal codecs and does not rely on externally installed ones. Another option is Mplayer which is also runs independent of external codecs - you can try that one too.

I would first try uninstalling then reinstalling your video drivers, or set them back to default. Then try uninstalling/reinstalling VLC (you may have changed some settings in VLC, so try reverting to default settings)

Try running a registry cleaning tool, the free ccleaner is a good one.

EDIT: I guess Redwudz beat me to the punch!

[redwudz]

poisondeathray, at least we think along the same lines. Good idea about the registry. I also noticed the last time I added VLC to a computer, it has a check box to delete all old preferences and settings that comes up during the install. I also check 'context menus' so when I R click on a video, VLC is shown as a option. Very handy for playing VIDEO_TS folders.

[Chaps]

Thank you for the quick answer. Well it does not fix my problem, but at least I know what is not the problem Now I'll try the video-card driver uninstall/reinstall (btw, it's an ATI Radeon X1950 Pro, If you somehow came accross known video pb related to this card...)
Something else: My motherboard is an asus which came with a "Enhanced display driver" I never liked I uninstalled quite early. Could it be that this causes trouble?
Anyway, thanks again, I will surely tell you if all your advice were succesfull!

[redwudz]

If your X1950 is a separate video card and not on the motherboard, the 'Enhanced display driver' shouldn't have anything to do with it. But ATI drivers can be strange at times. I have a X1250 on-board video and a X1550 PCI card on another computer. I've had odd problems with both, since resolved with the right choice of drivers. You can also download drivers direct from ATI or just use the drivers from the disc that came with the card.

The problem doesn't entirely sound like a video card problem, but there's nothing else I can think of to try at present.

[poisondeathray]

If your motherboard has onboard VGA, you should disable it in the BIOS. You should also uninstall the driver related to that one (because there maybe driver conficts)

[Chaps]

I'm glad to announce my problem seems to be fixed It actually had something to do with the graphic card... I think I even have my idea about it. In fact, i found out the driver and the catalyst control center were not the same version (e.g. ccc came with a previous version of the driver), so this time i just installed the driver and uninstall ccc and it seems to work perfectly! Strange behaviour anyway

So, again, thanks a lot for the kind help, I really feel relief I don't have to reinstall all my system