O.S. is Windows XP Media Center Edition (same as XP with extras). My Windows Media Player & RealPlayer have been playing DVDs just fine. Now, when I playback known good commercial &/or home movie DVDs using Windows Media Player or RealPlayer, I can hear the audio OK but there is no video. If I playback the same DVDs on the same PC using VLC Media Player, a stand alone Sony DVD player or another PC, both video & audio play OK. When playing back movie files stored on HDD, both W.M.P. & RealPlayer will play both video & audio in AVI files but will not play the video if the file is an MPEG. In trying to troubleshoot this issue, I had a hunch that it might be codecs related. Using another PC (that still plays DVDs OK - with nearly the same software installed) I compared the installed video codecs as they appeared in the Device Manager. A glaring difference between the two machines was the "no video" one had an additional codec called fps1. This reminded me that the "no video" PC previously had FRAPS software installed which also installs fps1. I thought that uninstalling and manually removing fps1 from the registry & Windows files would fix this but I thought wrong! Although all traces of FRAPS & fps1 were gone, there was still no video during playback. Other than a backup/restore of the out-of-date working system to the non-working one, I'm at a complete loss. If I can avoid doing so, it would save me considerable time & aggravation. Help! How can I fix this? Some one on another forum mentioned that the problem could be that the codecs &/or players may not be properly configured. This Pc recently had some issues with a trojan horse. Perhaps this corrupted some thing?
You did not mention whether you have an mpeg-2 decoder installed, and if so which one ? In general, if you can't get to the bottom of it, uninstall all obvious codec packs and use a tool such as filmerit to interrogate the directshow filters for errors.
Hi Davexnet, Thanks for replying. Although I know my way around PCs & Windows fairly well, I must say that I find this subject to be extremely confusing. Additionally, it's very difficult to find clear cut & concise information for newbie (like me) troubleshooting. But I'm trying to learn as I go so I'm not sure where I should be looking for the MPEG2 decoder you refer to. Regardless, I used the Windows XP Video Checkup Utility to see what happens. It said there are seven MPEG-2 decoders installed but only one is compatible with Windows Media Player. It is set to be the preferred decoder. It's an Intervideo IVIVIDEO.ax 8.0.6.109. I also know there is a pack installed called "K-Lite Codec" which has "ffdshow" video codecs in it. You said "uninstall all obvious codec packs" but where am I going to do so - in the control panel>add/remove programs, or elsewhere? I'll also have a look at "Filmerit". But again I'll be groping to understand what I can do with it. Regards, Richard
I just tried Filmerit. It shows 6 errors. One is a Sony, three are DMO audio & two are WDM streaming. Other than being able to repair or delete those with errors, I don;t see what this tells me about my issue.
Probably best to uninstall all codec packages from add/remove programs. This includes things like Haali, cccp, klite, coreavc, ffdshow,xvid,divx,etc,etc. Then allow Filmerit to fix the dshow filters. Then reinstall your compatible mpeg-2 decoder and test your mpeg-2 files and DVD's in WMP.
Thanks for that info Dave. I've uninstalled the obvious codec packs from add/remove but how about Sonic Encoders & Windows 9 Media Encoder Series? Additionally, how about the video codecs that appear in the Administrative Tools>Device Manager? For instance: ffdshow video encoder, iccvid.dll, indeo video 5.10, ir32_32.dll, ir41_32.ax, xvid MPEG-4 video codec, etc. that aren't in add/remove?
Well, some products do install codecs under the covers as you've found out. I would uninstall, video-editing packages, Nero, etc,etc - you can always put them back later. I doubt whether the WMV encoder is related to your original problem, but it's a simple thing to uninstall/reinstall. What section of the device manager are you talking about?
Device Mgr. section I was referring to is "Sound, Video, Game Controllers>video codecs". But I'm delighted to report that I finally got the video on movie DVDs to playback properly. There were two problems involved. Probably the most important was missing/broken codecs. Following your tip, I uninstalled a codec pack then installed a fresh one called Media Player Codec Pack. Additionally, I uninstalled then installed a fresh download of RealPlayer. Works great now! Thanks for the help Dave. It's much appreciated.
