# My Window Media Player can't play AVI files.



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

How do I make it play AVI files.


----------



## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Where did you get the AVI files? Some DIVx files are labeled as AVI files, and without the proper codec installed, they won't play with WMP.


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I"ve encountered a few AVI files embedded in webpages. The Media Players says "Connecting..." and never plays anything.


----------



## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

That's different, does it play any AVI files?


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

It plays no AVI files.


----------



## account1234 (May 21, 2006)

First of all to play AVI's you usually need a codec (coder/decoder) some computers have a few but usually not DivX DivX.com i personally have 2 avi-codecs first one is DivX for decoding i can do the film grain effect so it doesnt look all pixelated and i use Xvid to encode all my videos it does a way better job than the free DivX codec but if you wanna play like any video format then get VLC (Video LAN Client) it comes with a buncha codecs i think and anyway its gr8


----------



## paulb100 (Mar 17, 2005)

get VLC PLAYER free, just google it
it plays EVERYTHING


----------



## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

Rather than installing lot's of codecs try ffdshow.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I downloaded ffdshow. How do I use it?


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

AVI files still not playing.


----------



## paulb100 (Mar 17, 2005)

once FFshow is installed MediaPlayer should play the .AVI
VLC Player is best for playback, it has all codecs and file type support...

http://downloads.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.8.5/win32/vlc-0.8.5-win32.exe

Click above link to download and install


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I think I want to stick with the WMP for now. Why isn't ffdshow working?


----------



## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

Alright then try this (it has an uninstaller).

http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

That doesn't seem to work either.


----------



## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

One more.

http://www.divxmovies.com/codec/


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I downloaded VLC. It says the avi file is broke and that it can fix it but it may take a long time. What does that mean?


----------



## paulb100 (Mar 17, 2005)

I had a similiar issue once and it was because i had TOO MANY codec packages installed and they conflicted with each resulting in timeout and them not playing..
The best thing to do is uninstall ALL your codec packages and install FFDShow on its own
Then if that doesnt work its because the codec thats been used to create the AVI file isnt supported in FFDShow, in that case you might want to try another codec package like

The Codecs
http://www.theorica.net/download.htm
(or choose from many at..)
http://www.free-codecs.com/Codec_Packs.htm

I personally use DivX & XviD codecs and Ive never had an issue with playback .. and I burn movies all the time from .AVI, .MPEG, .MPG, .BIN, with WinAVI / UltraISO / DVDShrink and Divx/XviD codecs and have been for years without a hitch (apart from once with having too many codecs onboard)


----------



## paulb100 (Mar 17, 2005)

hmmm broke? never come across that one before.. does VLC say it can fix it?
I dont think it can cos its just a playback utility
Whats the error say from WMP exactly?
If it is broke (which it probs is) then the only thing you can do really is download it again but trust me the chances are that the HARD copy that everyone is downloading is damaged and the result will be the same


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

The uninstalled all the codecs I downloaded and only FFDShow is installed. Is it a good idea to only have one codec installed at a time?

I'm getting this error from VLC now:
This AVI file is broken. Seeking will not work correctly. Do you want to try to repair it (this might take a long time)?

I don't get an error message from WMP. It says "Connecting..." on the bar at the bottom and never plays anything.

What does it mean for the file to be broken? Some of the files I am trying to play in VLC are skipping frames when playing and stopping on the same frame and then it won't play any more. I know this because the files are supposed to last more seconds than the second VLC stops. I have also noticed that the quality of some videos(WMV) is better in VLC. Is this common? And what does post processing do?


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I altered some settings. Videos are playing now but they are grainy.


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

VLC...AVI files don't play their sound.


----------



## ceder (Mar 29, 2006)

I'd still like to know why FFDShow isn't working.


----------



## paulb100 (Mar 17, 2005)

carefull with the settings you are altering in VLC cos it changes loads of stuff, you are best leaving the settings as they are otherwise you will make playback worse, VLC has Pro settings that only Pro's know what to do with them....
It sounds like the AVI file is broken, it is corrupt, you may aswell delete it if VLC wont play it VLC doesnt use FFDshow to decode as it has its own codecs FFDshow is just a codec that other media players / DVD creating software use to decode/encode AVIs,MPEGs etc
If VLC wont play it nor WMP with FFDshow installed the AVI files is corrupt, like i said earlier you can try to download it again but chance are it will be corrupt
Your other AVIs are probably not working right because you have changed the settings in VLC, its sounds like its skipping Are you playing from DVD disc? if so the disc must be scratched, Try VLC to play AVIs from Harddrive only


----------

