Good Media Player

[stoned_jedi]

help!
i keep having problems with windows media player it keeps saying certain files are "Class Not Recognised"Ie tried using DivX player 4 but the files are all AVI any suggestions would be appreciated (BTW i have latest version of windows media player nine)

[novak]

I use BSPlayer to play all my .avis. Another explanation could be that you're missing a few codecs. If BSPlayer doesn't do the trick, post and I'll hook you up with a codec pack.

[GeneticFreak]

http://www.videolan.org/

Get it, its free and plays everything.

Thanks to Beerbaron for pointing that player for me.

[Justin286]

You're probably missing a codec. Use GSpot to figure out which one(s) you need.

[stoned_jedi]

no neither of those work, now it plays first 5 seconds or so then closes down i think io must have been unlucky and downloaded same type of corruption (As the files it wont play are TMD)

[Loibisch]

I would recommend either Media Player Classic or (my favourite) Zoom Player.

If you are missing a codec I suggest you try and install ffdshow-alpha, which is a DirectShow Filter capable of playing most video formats.

hth

Edit: Oh, and for the love of god: don't install any codec packs, just single codecs you KNOW you need. Believe me

[Papapishu]

I'm a Xineman.


(Some windows version)

[Zarkazm]

As stated elsewhere recently, MPC has me convinced. Simple and functional.

[phatcat]

I have been using Winamp 5 for all my media and it works fine.
It plays all my DVIX anime rips!

[Bean316]

Winamp5...delicious.

[Gundato]

Winamp5 is great. I have yet to notice any real problems (but the only video I watch are Invader Zim episodes )

[iridium]

Originally Posted by Loibisch

Edit: Oh, and for the love of god: don't install any codec packs, just single codecs you KNOW you need. Believe me

how exactly do you KNOW which codecs you need?

[Loibisch]

Well, you try to play a movie and if it doesn't work you need the appropriate codec

To find out which codec you need use either GSpot or abcAVI Tag Editor. One of those will surely be able to find out which codec you need.

For starters I'd recommend installing the following codecs:
DivX 5.x.x - most recent version available
ffdshow-alpha - Direct Show filter that will play back a lot of stuff, also supports XviD.
Quicktime Alternative - Codec to play Quicktime content in any media player
Real Alternative - Codec to play Real Player content in any media player
AC3Filter - An AC3 Filter . Lots of options from SPDIF out to 2/0 downmix.

Suggested media player of choice: Zoom Player
That should get you started with 99% of all movies. Install something like WinDVD to add some proper MPEG2 codecs and you're set for 99.9% .

[Zur]

Originally Posted by Loibisch

ffdshow-alpha - Direct Show filter that will play back a lot of stuff, also supports XviD.

ffdshow solves the problem where a video you're watching is being displayed in fluorescent green. Standard DivX doesn't handle some encodings correctly.

[B]

Xvid codec is widely used nowadays, couldn't hurt to have it

[MetalMickey]

How does one go about uninstalling codecs? I have fifty billion codecs that contradict each other and the like.

[novak]

Originally Posted by MetalMickey

How does one go about uninstalling codecs? I have fifty billion codecs that contradict each other and the like.

I'm guessing youre a Windows user..?

Go to Device Manager (My Computer/Properties/Hardware tab) and then to Sound, video and game controllers. There you will find the audio and video codecs that are installed on your system and are able to remove them.

[Loibisch]

Originally Posted by _Zd_Bee_

Xvid codec is widely used nowadays, couldn't hurt to have it

ffdshow also supports XviD, you don't need to install a special XviD codec. I have only ffdshow installed and I've never had problems playing an XviD file .



@MM:
For uninstalling codecs you can either go the manual way with "regsvr32.exe /u <path-to-filter-file>" (which requires a lot of knowledge on which filter is which) or you can go and get Zoom Player and use it's advanced codec management.

If you have severely screwed up your codecs you can try a complete codec reset (taken from the Zoom Player Codec Setup Guide):

The Last Resort:
If your system is completely screwed up and you're thinking of reinstalling the operating system from scratch to fix your media playback problems, here is a last resort action you can take prior to doing this. Notice, this action may damage media playback on your system, but if you follow it carefully, you should be ok. Just make sure to read all the instructions carefully and don't skip any steps.

Here are the series of actions you will need to take in order to reset your media playback settings to their default values (As they should be after a fresh OS install).

1. You will first need to obtain Zoom Player v3.10 or newer.
2. Run Zoom Player and open the "Options / Filter Control / Management" tab and click on the "Registered Filter Manager" button.
3. Select all the filters in the list (highlight the first filter, hold shift and press the End button on the keyboard).
4. Press on the "Unregister Filters" Button.
5. Close Zoom Player.
6. You will now need to re-register the filters that come with the system on a fresh install. To do this, run this batch file.
7. To restore DVD Playback capabilities without reinstalling the DVD Player, you may also need to register the DVD Filters that came with your player. You should be able to do that using Zoom Player's Customized DVD Playback interface by selecting the decoders you use and pressing the "Register" button.

For the full article go here.