ffdshow conflict with Windows Media Player 12

I don't know how ffdshow got on my computer, but now I have it and cannot remove it. I am having fits! WMP has been working fine (forever) and now it starts getting interrupted and the sound stops and starts. This happens about 5-20 minutes into playing audio files. It goes on for about 5 or 10 minutes and then everything seems OK. I noticed that when this happens, 2 icons suddenly appear in the system tray. They are ffdshow (audio and video). At first I thought it was a virus or malware, but it appears that ffdshow is legitimate, and that many folks use it. Whatever the case, I don't want it on my computer and I've tried everything to get it removed - but it must be embedded into an another app. It can't be removed via any uninstall products (it doesn't show up as an installed program). Is it a codec? I recently started uninstalling apps I installed withinin the last couple months, but it is still there. I'm wondering if it got installed as part of an AMD Catalyst update. Any ideas?!?

Thanks fireberd. Already tried that method with no success. ffdshow is not an "installed program" (nor is Matroska Pack), so it cannot be uninstalled by conventional means. I've even tried third-party unistallers, with no luck. Under "C:\Program Files\" there is no folder for Matroska Pack. This thing [ffdshow] is really buried deep somewhere. Argh!! :)

Well, I finally found where ffdshow was hiding. It was one of many codecs loaded with the Windows 7 Codec Pack. Funny thing is, I installed this codec pack six months ago, but the problem only recently surfaced. In any event, if you run into problems with this codec, simply remove it via "Uninstall/Change" (Control Panel>Programs and Features>Windows 7 Codec Pack). You do not need to remove all the codecs. You can select each one individually. Problem solved!

It would be helpful if you could describe in more detail the particular type of audio file you say you're having this recent problem playing, which apparently is related to FFDSHOW being installed.

Win7 really has taken some significant steps forward in supporting all types of audio and video formats without any help from outside "codec packs". In fact it is strongly recommended that you do NOT install any such outside collections of codecs, certainly not in a "mass install" where you don't control which one(s) will actually be installed.

Many reports exist of problems occurring due to interfering with MS Media Foundation through these external packages which were really intended for WinXP, not for newer Win7 which has lots of new support already built in. Certainly if you want Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player to work properly, it's almost guaranteed that with little exception you don't need to install anything (except perhaps FLAC support, if you insist on using WMP and Explorer for your music enjoyment instead of other far superior 3rd-party products such as Winamp, Jaangle, MP3Tag, etc.... all of which have built-in native support for FLAC, ID3/FLAC tags, imbedded album art in tags or external "cover.jpg", etc.).


That said, I happen to require FFDSHOW (along with AVISynth and Matroska for its Haali Splitter) because I use a product named multiAVCHD to build BluRay discs from WTV recordings made by Windows Media Center. Believe me I was very very concerned about installing FFDShow and Matroska, and took great pains to install only the least I could so as not to impact anything in Win7 that didn't need any help.

So, when installing FFDSHOW, I very consciously UN-CHECKED support for all of the formats which I knew to be inherently supported by Win7 itself. This goes for both audio and video.

There is another relevant thread ("WMP can't play AVI") where I posted screenshots of exactly what I allowed to be installed from FFDSHOW and what I didn't allow. And I can say that for me WMC and WMP both still play flawlessly (and I have many types of audio and video files), and multiAVCHD also works fine.

So, you can look at this post of mine in that other thread for a screenshot of my FFDSHOW configuration for video.

And similarly, you can look at this post of mine in that other thread for a screenshot of my FFDSHOW configuration for audio.

I was having problems playing mp3's via WMP or WMC. Very simple and basic. I have an extensive mp3 audio library of over 400GB, and I use these two apps all the time to play music (usually playing playlists that can last for a day or two) through my home stereo. My sound card is an EMU-0404, utilizing the SPDIF out to my PS Audio DAC. I have been doing this for years without issue. However, a month ago, I started having problems (see initial post) that were directly related to ffdshow. Removing it has completely remedied the problem.

I installed the Windows 7 Codec Pack in efforts to fix a problem I was having back in March, where I couldn't properly playback WMV files from within Outlook (there was no sound during playback). Installing the Windows 7 Codec Pack fixed that problem. I will remain puzzled as to why it took nearly 8 months for ffdshow to exhibit the problem. I am just soooo glad that the problem is gone. Frankly, I would have de-installed the entire Windows 7 Codec Pack, but I feared that the WMV playback issue might return! I'm leaving things alone for now, but I am wondering if the Windows 7 Codec Pack I installed contained codecs already installed on my computer. Whatever the case, I am pleased to have the problem fixed - and everything is working fine now.

Interesting story.

But I can say that full and complete 100% support for MP3 is obviously built right into Win7, including the ability to read ID3 tags and display the information in Explorer... without requiring any outside assistance, not from FFDSHOW nor from any codec pack. MP3 works perfectly via the several media players within Windows.

I personally do NOT have any codec packs installed (and even my install of the Matroska package is strictly for the Haali splitter, with all other features un-checked). And I have no problems playing MP3 with WMP, or the odd occasional WMV file I might come across (I have zero of these myself in my own music collection of about 65GB, 6700 tracks, 1100 FLAC and 5600 highest-quality MP3, all produced myself from my 1200 CD collection using FLAC and LAME).

But then I also don't use WMP/WMC for playing music. I much prefer to use Jaangle as my true "generalized organizer/player" for my collection, as well as Winamp (because I like watching G-Force Platinum's "visualization" to my music).

Nor do I use Outlook. Hard to imagine why WMV files would not be properly playable with ANY product from Microsoft, but if you say installing that codec pack solved your problem I'm sure it did. I would imagine that not all WMV files failed, just some. Right? I would suspect a peculiarity with that WMV file, rather than a general problem deserving the install of a complete codec pack as a solution.

NOTE: the FFDSHOW imbedded in the codec pack might not have been current. I know the full Matroska package also has an out-of-date FFDSHOW, and I always get my latest version of FFDSHOW from a trusted and always up-to-date source, not imbedded in other packages... for this very reason.

I would just like to point out that the only "trusted" and "up-to-date" source for ffdshow as dsperber kindly put it is ffdshow tryouts | Official Website.

Please don't take this the wrong way, dsperber, but I have many doubts about downloading codecs from third-party websites. :)

For clarification purposes: I never had any problems playing mp3 files with WMP or WMC PRIOR to adding the Windows 7 Codec Pack. The Codec Pack was ONLY installed to correct a problem whereby I couldn't play WMV files from within Outlook. Yeah, you would figure that two MS products (Outlook and WMV) would play well together, but for some reason they weren't. Maybe I was missing a plug-in or something. Unfortunately, installing the Windows 7 Codec Pack, fixed one problem (WMV playback in Outlook) and induced another (WMP/WMC mp3 playback issues). Removing ffdshow fixed the WMP/WMC mp3 playback problem AND did not re-introduce the WMV/Outlook issue.

I welcome suggestions for a good Media Player, as I feel that WMP12 has way too much overhead (as witnessed by how long it takes to index 42,000 songs upon startup) - and is lacking features I would like, such as a "sub-genre" classification to make it easier to categorize things under a "master" genge (e.g., being able to classify hard rock; soft rock; folk rock; progressive rock; psychedelic rock; et al, under the master genre of Rock. Or being able to use a boolean formula to select (for example) "Year 1971" AND "Genre Rock" to then play all. Now, if I select "Year 1971 and play, I get Christmas music, classical music, etc. from 1971. Not necessarily what I was looking for! LOL

King Arthur said:

I would just like to point out that the only "trusted" and "up-to-date" source for ffdshow as dsperber kindly put it is ffdshow tryouts | Official Website.

Please don't take this the wrong way, dsperber, but I have many doubts about downloading codecs from third-party websites. :)

However...

The latest version from the "tryouts" site is 4422, from early April. In contrast the latest version from "free-codecs" (which is highly regarded) is 4496 (from yesterday 12/13).

Also, "free-codecs" offers both 32-bit and 64-bit versions (for 64-bit media players).

I appreciate your point, but I have developed a trust for "free-codecs". Never had any problem over the many years I've downloaded from them. And I actually have more "functional trust" in an up-to-date (yesterday!!) version of FFDSHOW than I do for an April one.