Windows 7: AVI files will not play in WMP

rundwald · 02 Feb 2012

I get error "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file."

Do I, perhaps need to update the codecs, where from? Or does my player need some tweaks or repair?

I await your advice.

2leo · 02 Feb 2012

The same problem here, updated codecs, it didn't help.

Bongo · 02 Feb 2012

I would recommend downloading and installing VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework! it will play just about anything you throw at it.
If you are going to use some codecs I would recommend these Shark007's FREE Codec solutions - Windows 7 codecs the developer of these is a trusted member here.
Jerry

Information about the Multimedia file types that Windows Media Player supports

Quote:

Audio Visual Interleave (.avi)

Versions of Windows Media Player that support this file type:

Windows Media Player 7
Windows Media Player for Windows XP
Windows Media Player 9 Series
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Player 11

Audio Video Interleave (AVI) is a special case of Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). AVI is defined by Microsoft. The .avi file format is the most common format for audio and video data on a computer.

Audio content or video content that is compressed with a wide variety of codecs can be stored in an .avi file and played in Windows Media Player, if the appropriate codecs are installed on the computer. Video codecs that are frequently used in .avi files include the following codecs:

DivX codec

For more information, visit the following DivX Web site:http://www.divx.com
Cinepak codec

For more information, visit the following Cinepak Web site:Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
Indeo codec

For more information, visit the following Ligos Web site:http://www.ligos.com
DV codec
MJPEG codec
Uncompressed RGB or YUY2 codec

Audio codecs that are frequently used in .avi files include the following audio codecs:

MP3 codec
Microsoft Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (MS ADPCM)
Uncompressed Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) codec

Click to play a sample AVI file (2,961KB)

2leo · 02 Feb 2012

VLC mediaplayer plays the .avi files. WMP still doesn't, afther the fix. I would like to know why.

Thank you.

mickey megabyte · 02 Feb 2012

wmp can't play the avi files because they're probably encoded using an unsupported codec - maybe h264 or whatever.

not all avi files are the same - there's quite a lot of confusion regarding video files, there isn't a single avi 'format' - basically avi is just a 'container', and the video can be encoded in many different ways. you need a suitable codec installed on your system to translate the zeroes and ones into a video stream.

if you really need wmp (or media center) to play the file, you'll need a codec pack - shark007's pack is probably the best there is.

software such as vlc has all the codecs 'built-in'.

2leo · 02 Feb 2012

Thank you for the info. I'll try your tip later. Added Shark007.net - Windows 7 Codecs - WMP12 Codecs to my bookmarks.

Maguscreed · 02 Feb 2012

there is also the combined community codec pack, it was put together by the p2p'ers and it covers pretty much every format imaginable, minus a few really old codecs no one uses anymore.

Shark007 · 02 Feb 2012

To get those AVI files to play in the Windows players you will need to go to the SWAP TAB of the Settings Application installed by the Shark007 Win7codecs and choose to disable the DMO codecs.

Doing this will allow the installed codecs to decode the video.

rundwald · 03 Feb 2012

Thanks for the tips. ATM I'm leaning to VLC (finger in air method).

mickey megabyte · 03 Feb 2012

good choice - vlc is very popular for video playback due to the fact that 'it just works'.

you only need to mess with codecs if you really have to use wmp (or media centre), or if you need to import video into editors.

Windows 7: AVI files will not play in WMP

AVI files will not play in WMP problems?