This site is a great resource and im hoping someone can help me out here... first off, i was searching for a guide on how to totally clean my system of all codecs so i could start from scratch and only install what i need, but there are no guides. i was hoping for a guide because i probably installed some crap a couple years back that i forgot about as well. anyways my problems first started with an avi i tried to convert to dvd using avi2dvd. the avi file played perfectly in windows media player. but after running avi2dvd, the output file had perfect audio, but the video was a blank green screen. i assumed this was a codec issue, but at the time i did not know of gspot. i tried a couple different avi file to see if my computer was screwed up, but they burned fine. stupid me desperate to get the problem avi to work, i downloaded more codecs off this site (stable ffdshow). im not sure if this is the source of the problem, but it seemed like things got worse from here. not immediately after, but a little later i started getting windows explorer shut down errors when looking in a folder with the avi file (and i believe it said it was related to module "xvid.ax"). it made it difficult to delete the folder with the avis i unpacked from winrar because explorer kept shutting down(please remember i dont believe they are corrupt because they previously played fine on wmp). also if i managed to delete it into the recycle bin before the window closed, i would also go into the recycle bin and try to delete it for good, and it would give me an error saying the file was still in use. then after re-opening the recycle bin and trying to delete again, it worked. worse yet, the same type of shutdown error would occur if i opened the problem avi file in wmp. so now the file that i previously could view, no longer opens at all. MORE worse, i tried opening a different avi movie i had that also previously worked, and that doesnt work either (BUT, luckily many other avis still work, i am so confused). at this point in a panic to at least get my computer to play the avi again i downloaded: XviD Codec v1.1.3 (Koepi's 28.06.2007 Final Build), gspot, and the latest divx. well the the shutdown error stopped after this, but i still could not play either of the (now two. instead of one) problem avi files in WMP. but when i tried to play in divx player, the 2nd movie that just started giving me problems played fine in the divx player. i tried again to play it in WMP and no luck. it also wouldn't let me convert using avi2dvd. the original avi that caused me to start downloading all this mess still did not play in anything. i ran gspot and both avi files said i had all the codecs. when i rendered the original problem avi the video was now showing a red screen, but played back the audio fine and subtitles. man i am so confused. i thank anyone that took the time to read this and can offer any advice. like i said it seems i increasingly made problems worse by installing different codecs, so i'd like to know how i can clear everything and start from scratch (wisely using gspot before downloading codecs left and right). *edit* id also like to clarify so no one thinks i didnt do any searching. i see the manually delete codecs sticky, but it just basically names codec files and possible directories. the thread is for *nitty gritty* it doesnt say if that is every single codec that could be on my system. how would i know if i go through that list, that there arent any more codecs still lingering? thanks again.
Try Codec Sniper or DirectShow Filter Manager. these can help you locate and remove bad codecs. FFDShow shouldn't cause a problem but after you remove some of the broken ones you will probably need to re-install it.
olyteddy, thanks for taking the time to read and reply. luckily i tried some things on my own last night and everything *seems* to be working great. i managed to port the avi file that caused this mess over to dvd =) basically what i did was use add/remove programs and removed anything codec related. so ffdshow, divx, etc all got wiped out. then i used the nitty gritty list and manually deleted all those codecs. there was a slight problem, as i guess they still show up in the registry, so gspot still listed that i had the codecs, although it would list that it couldn't locate them (because i deleted them, duh!). anyways i downloaded the k-lite pack from this site because another forum member suggested i try that. k-lite was great because it detected the broken codecs i tried to remove and removed them from the registry for me. the codec pack worked great as i did not have to install anything else and the avis all play correctly, and as i mentioned earlier, the avi now was cleanly ported over to dvd with avi2dvd. it's such a relief to have the system working normally again AND do what i need it to do. thanks again!
