Travel Technology - CODECS for playing videos

well - it's for my lap-top which I travel with so we'll call it travel technology, and I did a search first! :D

Basics are that I'm running Vista and have, er, acquired a few videos which (as you do with videos) I'd like to watch.

But they're not working.

I'm bright enough to know that I need some codec thingymebob, but I'm not bright enough to know exactly what to download and half of what's on offer seems to come with a complimentary virus/trojan/whatever.

So I bow to the wise heads that populate FT and ask for some pointers please.

The files I've got are in avi format - but generally I;d be happy just to get a pointer to a decent 'pack' (if that's the best idea) of codecs.

Thanking you all in anticipation.

I have been a fan of K-Lite Codec pack for years now and have never come across a file it could not play. Guaranteed to be clean and has lots of options and settings if you want to get geeky with it.


http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm

Download a program called VLC. It plays basically anything you throw at it, is completely free and comes highly recommended.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

I bow to your knees and wish eternal upgrades upon you. The power of the Ft community shines yet again.

I'd offer more thanks, but If you'll excuse me I've got a video to watch! :D

Download a program called VLC. It plays basically anything you throw at it, is completely free and comes highly recommended.http://www.videolan.org/vlc/I second this. I have quite a few movies myself, all obtained legally and never ripped from a DRM-protected DVD, as that would upset Big Gubment and the TSA (they're here to help us, don't you people see that?) and lots of other groups that love me enough to take away my civil liberties and due process...oh, wait, sorry, yes, two thumbs up to VLC.

Will

VLC is good. Another one is GOM Player, also free.

1) As previously suggested, VLC. It plays just about everything without needing codecs.

2) If for some reason this isn't the answer, download the program Avicodec. You give it a file, it tells you what codec(s) are needed to play it, whether they are installed and where to find them if you need to.


Note that VLC will *NOT* play DRM-protected files. This can be a good thing as it's sometimes used as a means of downloading malware. Windows Media Player will by default take you to the page the file specifies to obtain the license--as it's running IE to do this it's vulnerable to anything that would attack IE.

Ok so I went to the VLC website and i'm not sure which file to download. They all say "Warning: The following package is not up-to-date with the latest official version of the software. When using an out-of-date version, you may encounter important bugs or security holes. "

Any help?

Thxs

Ok so I went to the VLC website and i'm not sure which file to download. They all say "Warning: The following package is not up-to-date with the latest official version of the software. When using an out-of-date version, you may encounter important bugs or security holes. "

Any help?

Thxs

I don't know why there is that warning, that's a very new release that I didn't know was out yet.

I'd go ahead and use it anyway.

I don't know why there is that warning, that's a very new release that I didn't know was out yet.

I'd go ahead and use it anyway.

There is that warning because there is a v0.9.3 tarball on the server, but it isn't compiled into an installer so it won't be on the regular download page. I cannot imagine that v0.9.2 will be a problem.

If you want to get something to play in Windows Media Player there is a free app called "gspot" which you can browse for a video file (or audio) and it will tell you what codec you need.

I've been using shark007 codecs for 1 1/2 years on Vista and XP machines.

http://shark007.net/