AVI files won't play

[gini872]

Hi there.  I have a small problem.  All the AVI files that I have downloaded no longer play video.  I have the sound, but no picture.  Can someon explain how to fix this?  I deleted all the files and have been trying to re download.  So far only 1 has downloaded with video.  Please advise.  Thanks

[KM]

do you have any codec packs installed?

avi files are a container that can contain many different types of audio/video, and to play back a file you need to have the decoders for both the audio and video files inside it. In many cases the audio will use something common that all computers have the decoders for however windows doesn't come with many decent decoders for video (it only comes with ones that make huge files). So for the vast majority of videos you will need to install the decoders for the video file.

Thankfully there aren't that many different codecs that get used for encoding video, just a handful of decent ones get used - so quite a few people have made codec packs, these are installers with several of the most common codecs in that can be used to play just about any file you download.

There are several common codec packs you can use, you only really need one though as they normally just contain pretty much the same thing

Several common codec packs:
Codec pack all in one
KLite Codec Pack
XP Codec Pack
(just pick one of them, any should do for most videos)

[gini872]

Thank you so much for the info.  I downloaded one of the ones you listed.  I have a few downloads going, so hopefully they will work.

[SamSeeSam]

you don't need to install more than one for most files. The special ones have seperate codecs... (eg real, flash,etc)

Cheers

[gini872]

So far the new avi files I have downloaded are working with the Codec Pack I downloaded.  THanks again.