Vista - Media player wont play avi files

Hi, need some help with a small problem on my windows media player, for some reason when I play avi files it doesn't show the video, but I will hear the audio, I thought it was a codec problem, so I downloaded a bunch of avi codecs, but they didn't fix the problem, maybe I don't have the right ones or something, anyway if you could help me fix this problem it would be really appreciated, because I'm annoyed with it, and also by the way, for windows movie maker it does the same thing, I tried a different media player: Divx, and it worked fine, but it would be great though if I could make it work for both windows media player and windows movie maker.
Thanks,


LordJohnx3

It's very likely a codec issue. You have a couple of options. The minimalist option would be to download the gspot codec tool, it's freeware and easy to find via google. It will tell you the specific audio and video codecs necessary for the file you want to play. You can then simply install just the necessary codec.

If you want a codec pack that will cover all your bases, I recommend the Shark007 packs Shark007's FREE Codec solutions. There is a Vista pack, as well as an x64 add on pack. They are updated frequently, completely configurable, and malware free.

If you chose to install the packs, uninstall all the individual codecs you installed previously, or you may end up getting nasty conflicts.

In addition, you may want to try the VideoLan player from VideoLAN, Free streaming and multimedia solutions for all OS! instead of WMP.

Thanks, I'm going to try it out.

Hi you need to install the xvid codec it does the video part and the ac3 filter does the audio part those are the only 2 codecs you need. Avoid codec packs as they contain many codecs that do the same thing, koepis xvid codec works well they can be downloaded at free-codecs.com.

I've already tried those, nothing worked

Did you check Media Player updates to see if it is the latest version 11.0.6002.18005?

Try to change the properties of the .avi file you want to play in Media Player - right click the file - properties - change to Media Player.

When I did this, double clicking the .avi opens and plays normally in Media Player for me.

just courious have you tried downloading the divx codec from www.divx.com
my divx files do the same thing if i do not have divx installed

Yes, didn't do anything, and Dick Jagger going to try what you said, I'll tell you the results soon, thanks.

I've tried to change the properties, nothing worked, and I believe I'm up to date, like I said I can hear sound, just see no video. Also I put it so it would play on my quicktime player, and it was working fine, but it doesn't for windows media player.

try to uninstalll all codecs

go to start and see which ones are there and if they come with their own uninstaller and remove them

also go to control panel and remove any codec pack you downloaded that is in there

once you've removed as many as you can
then go to the divx website and install their codec

I had same problem and this worked for me