Whenever I build a new PC or rebuild a PC, it seems to me that installation of the proper video codec to allow Windows Media Player 11 to play DVDs is a hit and miss proposition, at best. For example, I just started configuring a PC that has a fresh install of XP SP2. When I tried to play a DVD in WMP11, it would not play. It is well known that WMP does not include an MPEG-2 codec. In the past, I have had great success with Stinky's MPEG-2 codec. When I installed it a while ago, no video in WMP11. (The DVD played fine with PowerDVD runtime.) Next I installed the latest version of ffdshow. No luck. (That's the big puzzler.) So I uninstalled ffdshow and installed K-Lite Basic. No luck. As a last resort, I tried K-Lite Full. Finally, DVDs play in WMP11. Therefore, I have two questions: 1) Why did ffdshow not provide the proper codec for playing DVDs in WMP11? 2) If you were building an XP SP2 machine and wanted to play DVDs in WMP11 (indulge me - I know it's not the greatest player), which codecs would you install? It seems that K-Lite Full is the only one that is needed. What's the best way to manage codecs on a Windows machine, other than reformatting and starting from scratch? As applications are installed and removed, they probably leave the codecs behind.
Did you have the FFDShow codecs enabled for mpeg2? I don't have a codec pack installed(just don't like the ideea of bulk installation). I just got FFDShow.No playback problems. I even use FFDShow to embed subs with Nero Vision. I only use WMP11 because of Netflix needs it, otherwise VLC and MPC.
