AVI problems....very confused

[zanyhombre]

I'll start from scratch. I cannot play AVI files at all. I've installed all the codecs (nimo codec, divx codec, and radium) but it still doesn't work. I've tried DIV fix, still doesn't work. I've tried playing on Media Player and it says "unable to download an appropriate decompressor". Go figure. I've tried installing GSPOT and running the AVI file but it says the audio and video codec is not installed, however, when I checked in the adminstrative tools it says it is installed and running fine. I'm very confused and need to solve this problem. To maybe help you out a bit, I'm running windows 2000 on a government issued laptop (not sure if this will make a difference). Please respond as I need this fixed by New Year's Eve. Thanks.

[zodiac]

what codec does gspot say?
have you tried the xvid codec?
what kind of avi(movie cam or dvd rip)