I have XPSP2 and WMP9. I have been told that ALL I need for DVD playback is mpeg2 and AC3, and that I can get these from Klite codec pack. I also read about the dangers of installing large quantities of un-needed codecs. The installation screen for Klite offers a formidable range of some 20 - 30 assorted codecs with similar names. Can anyone tell me which ones to select so I get just the minimum I need to fix what WMP9 is missing. I know that I can simply take the default installation, but surely this is overkill?

Cant say what you exactly need.

But you can find out >>>

At first download G-Spot.

Check the file you try to play with it.

It shows you what codec is mssing.

Download the missing codec.

Always proceed like that and you will get the single codecs you need and not more.

Or.....write down the missing codecs and check them out in the K-Lite Codec Pack.

I installed the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (Im lazy!) full and everything works fine.

Its up to you what you choose.

I tried GSpot. It identified the video stream as mpeg2, but could give no details of the audio - simply stated 'other'. I found by trial and error that AC3 was needed. I would really appreciate it if anyone can tell me which of the many menu and submenu items in KLite I need to select, as it is very confusing

Codec packs are confusing...
Should ask about "which sub-sub-sub menu of K-Lite CP", etc. K-Lite CP... here:

Tyler:

I am considering using Media Player Classic 6.4.9.0 rev 611, QuickTime Alternative (which will include that MPC), and Real Alternative Lite --- instead of RealPlayer and QuickTime. My primary use is streaming media (usually business or investment conferences rather than entertainment) that I come across on the web, but also for an occasional downloaded multimedia file (example below).

I was attracted to this "dummies" thread because my own knowledge about multimedia, players, codecs, et. al., is minimal (and anything I "know" I learned within the month). To call me a "beginning amateur novice dummy" would grossly exaggerate my understanding.

Hence the very low level of this message.

You recommended G-Spot, but I didn't know where to download it from, so I googled "G-Spot," and I think you meant GSpot.

Under the latter name it does appear to be available at Free-Codecs.com, and elsewhere. Several links mentioned it as used for "AVI" files.

I didn't know what an AVI file is, so I went to WhatIs.com, and discovered that an AVI file is an "Audio Video Interleaved" file, and that it "ends with an avi extension."
SOURCE: http://searchsmb.techtarget.com/sDefinitio...i213796,00.html

But my understanding is that different types of streaming media files have a lot of different extensions, such as mp3, mp4, and m4v (for that one, go to http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/students/organizations/follies/
and download the video. I think that m4v is somehow related to mp4, but I don't understand the relationship.).

Question 1. How wide a variety of multimedia formats can GSpot discover?

Question 2: Once GSpot has discovered a needed codec, how does one search for it at Free-Codecs (or elsewhere)? There is a search field in the left column of that site's first page, but I wouldn't know what information to put in the search field. Does one search by a file's extension, or by some sort of name?

Question 3: Once one has a player (e.g. Media Player Classic plus RealAltLite and QTAltLite) set up, if it fails to play something, is only one or more codecs missing, or are there other "things" one needs also, that are called something other than "codecs"?

Thanks for any help.

Roger Folsom

________________________________________________________________

P.S. At the moment, my only mediaplayer is Windows Media Player 6.4 (came with Windows 2000), which I have upgraded by using the enterprise codecs available from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...ecdownload.aspx

Re the Columbia University download example:
The video is funnier if one has some background. My own title for the video is "GlennHubbard v BenBernanke EveryBreathYouTake - Follies-CBS." Glenn Hubbard previously was chair of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors. He left that job and returned to Columbia University Business School. Ben Bernanke, of course, is the newly appointed (as Janujary 2006) chair of the Federal Reserve Board; his predecessor was Alan Greenspan. Both Hubbard and Bernanke undoubtedly were on the "short list" of possible appointees to succeed Greenspan. Every Breath You Take is a very famous (albeit decades old I think) song by The Police (approximate band name).

My multimedia ignorance is well displayed in a long thread on CompuServe, in which some replies to my questions may contain useful information for other newbies to media players and codecs et. al. The following link points to a recent message of mine in that thread, but I think that from that link one could move throughout the entire thread.
http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/foru...g=ws-winprohelp

DPollock:

Thanks for starting this thread. I too (as you can see in my preceding message to Tyler) need to know how to find needed codecs. I see only a very small amount of multimedia, so my preferences are minimalist, in players as well as codec collections.

As for the dangers of installing large quantities of codecs: I've also been told something similar: "BTW, it's recommended to first uninstall (via Add/Remove) all codecs currently in the system before installing K-Lite."
SOURCE: http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/foru...g=ws-winprohelp

At the moment, that has completely stalled me from installing Media Player Classic (plus Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative, ideally in their "lite" verions because I want to install MPC separately so I can get what apparently is its latest revision 611) --- because I can't find any codecs listed in Add/Remove programs, although I know they are on the computer because Windows Media Player 6.4 now does play some stuff.

This is a wild guess, but I suspect the problem is not the number of codecs installed, but is having multiple codecs that essentially duplicate each other, by doing or try to do the same thing. As essentially duplicate codecs competed with each other for a single task, I can imagine some real messes resulting.

Taylor apparently has avoided that problem by installing the K-Lite MEGA codec package, which includes "everything" but presumably doesn't include duplicates.

My understanding is that at the Free-Codecs site, "K-Lite (non-mega) comes in full, standard and basic versions, they differ in the number of codecs included." (Same Compuserve message to which I linked above.)

But if you installed the basic version, and then needed more codecs and installed the standard or full version, or even the Mega version, then conflicts could arise, which would explain the recommendation above that you should uninstall previously installed codecs. I expect that Free-Codecs packs all would list in Add/Remove programs.

I hope that someone who actually knows something about this issue will chime in here and clarify, or explain why my guess is nonsense.

And if I'm very lucky, they'll address the issue of Windows Media Player codecs not listed in Add/Remove programs.

Cordially, Roger Folsom

This message is a follow-up to my own, immediately preceding, message.

After learning on Compuserve that I probably did not need to uninstall Windows Media Player 6.4 codecs (upgraded to Microsoft 9x codecs) before installing K-Lite codec packages,
http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/foru...g=ws-winprohelp

and after doing some experimenting with installattions of Media Player Classic plus QuickTime Alternative and Real Alternative, I discovered
that there were some QuickTime and Real files and streaming sites that did not play properly.

So after experimenting fujrther with some of the smaller codec packages (again with inconsistent results), I decided to "bite tne bullet" and install the K-Lite Mega Codec package version 1.55 (updated to that number at the end of July), which includes Media Player Classic 6.4.9.0 revision 611, QuickTime Alternative, Real Alternative, and many codecs and filters.

The great thing about that Mega package, compared to the smaller packages, is that it includes explicit documentation (presented before you actually install anything; I'd strongly recommend to anyone that they print it out before installing anything, so that they can make their component choices on paper) about what codecs are redundant (aka not needed) if you are going to use Media Player Classic and/or ffdshow (as I am), which codecs are used for encoding (I skipped those, because I have no plans to encode anything), which are rarely used by anybody, etc.

And then the actual "select components to install" page included a bit more information. For my own purposes, I added that extra information to the actual documentation, and I will try to attach the result here. I also marked which components I personally had installed --- if anyone has suggestions or criticisms about my component selections, please feel free to set me straight.

My total installed size came to 82 megabytes. There must be tons of stuff in there that I'm not using and likely will never use. But so far everything seems to be working reasonably well. I do have some remaining questions that I will post separately in new threads.

Roger Folsom