Video Files Not Playing

[Rahwgwar]

This afternoon I had the task to burn all my video files for a friend. Coming across my files, I noticed that none of them would play in either Winamp or WMP. I tried to play basic recognizable files like mpg but they would not play. Suspecting something wrong with my codecs, I uninstalled the latest NON beta K-lite codec pack that I had installed. I tried to run the files w/out these codecs. They were still not able to play.

I did a clean install of the codecs and tried to play a number of the files again, none of which played. WMP was telling me that it could not properly play the file or it is possibly corrupt. Right off the bat, I want to rule out the possibly of a virus or trojan. I keep my virus definitions up to date and have a running firewall. I've worked on my security for the past two weeks quite a bit and it's probably the best I can do with.

I went to my latest backup of video files which were almost complete as the ones on my PC now. Those did not play either. This led me to believe that the files were not corrupt because these SAME files played on my PC a month earlier. I had just copied them back after reinstalling. To add to the fact, they were playing fine last week with the installed codecs. I'm almost positive that the files are not corrupt. I ran CHKDSK and the Ontrack Disk Fixer and received no errors. Just for reassurance, I ran a virus scan, which assured me that it was not the work of a virus. The characteristics are not even of a typical virus, but I just wanted to rule this out as a possible culprit.

My MP3's are intact. I have no idea what brought on this issue. It is completely inexplicable to me.

When I get access to my father's laptop tomorrow, I will see if the files can play there. Until then, I cannot be completely sure of what the problem is. I will update you on the situation when possible.

Does anyone have any suggestions or may have some idea to as what caused this? How can I figure out what caused this and prevent it from happening in the future? More importantly, how can I get my video files to play again? Before I give them off to a friend, I need to be sure that they will play correctly. If the files are corrupted, I in no way intend to do any harm. However, if it is a hardware related issue or something else, then I can give it to him asap.

Thank you very much for any and all help I can get. By all means, give your opinion on the matter, no matter how awkward they may appear. I have gone through a lot of "awkward" stuff to attempt to figure out what the problem is.

[alliercollins]

See if this helps you any...

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20322642.html

[rainbowdemon]

I had a similar problem a while ago. This player plays just about anything. http://www.videolan.org/ Worked for me.:wingshttp://www.videolan.org/ (www.videolan.org/)

[Rahwgwar]

That was an excellent link but unfortunately I'm still having the same problem. After 2 hours of configuring my codecs, I can't seem to make them work. A few work but the percentage is less than 10%. I see no correlation or distinction to as why some files work and other don't. No specific file works throughout.

It would not play in WMP 6.4. It also wouldn't play the clock.avi in the windows directory.

Start > Run sfc /scannow seemed promising but I don't have any of the installation disks for XP. My PC came preinstalled with XP.

The command Dennis gave, which solved the snicoll's problem requires the installation disks as well. Right now, that looks like the best thing to do but what can I do now that I don't have those disks?

C'mon ZP.......more help is needed, lol. I can definitely use further suggestions. Thanks again.

[alliercollins]

Well there is only one installation disk for xp and this is a p2p site... Hope you have a cd burner ;)

[metale]

Originally posted by alliercollins
Well there is only one installation disk for xp and this is a p2p site... Hope you have a cd burner ;)
hahahha
lol!

[matstao]

Originally posted by rainbowdemon
I had a similar problem a while ago. This player plays just about anything. http://www.videolan.org/ Worked for me.:wingshttp://www.videolan.org/ (www.videolan.org/)

That is a nice little program. Thanks for the link. I had some video downloads sitting around waiting for me to figure out how to get them play, & that was it. Everything I've tried now looks and sounds great.

cheers

[Rahwgwar]

I even checked the automatic codec downloads box. I don't have anything against VideoLAN. In fact, I prefer it in a lot of cases after coming across it in a thread a couple of months ago. I just haven't installed it since reformatting. I will install it now and see if it helps.

The problems lies in the fact that I have a problem playing vid files with Winamp or WMP. These are problems which can get worse or can lead to other problems if not fixed. My main focus is to fix these problems.

Thanks........I will be posting some pics, but I doubt it will spark anything.

PS: Clicking on more information doesn't lead anywhere. The MS Knowledge Base has no information for that particular error at this time.

[Rahwgwar]

Well thanks for the VideoLAN link regardless. It's played every file that I've wanted it to with the exception of one. I guess this is a start, but I ultimately want to fix my original WMP/winamp issue.

[alliercollins]

It's good that you want to fix the problem.. I was originally going to post the link to video lan, but I wanted you to try and fix the problem. I know that I can't stand to have anything not working, even if it means reformatting :)

Yeah I know, geek... :shy

[rainbowdemon]

The answer to the problem might be in your screenshot. I have not had much luck with that player. In addition to videoLAN, I also use RealOne and QuickTime. Both of these use a lot of cpu,but they work better than wmp. RealOne also burns cd's. Try putting 1 or 2 videos in a new file and use one or both of these players. Just try 1or 2 in case it doesn't work. I don't want to f*ck all of them. I have not used Winamp, so I can't say anything about that one. I hope this works. Problems like this can make you nuts!!:gj

[CCSDUDE]

Are you using WMP9? If you did install that POS....I'd suggest praying to god that the restore point for removing WMP9 is still around....go back and restore to before you upgraded.


If you can't you may be SOL....a restore by format or system restore may be the only answer if WMP9 installed some 'copyright' crap that refuses to play certain files...IE all non copyright tagged files....never know. Trustin' MS isn't a good thing...lol block WMP from the net...always....

Use something like Streambox VCR! or ASFRecorder to snag the streams you wish to view....