Cannot play video files in Media player

Trouble:

One of our readers Di Chen reported this problem “When I put DVD into my computer, it shows no video, no graphic from media players, I can only hear the sound.”

This type of problem is not uncommon. We often observe some problems in which we record a video on mobile phone, it runs well on phone, but on computer, the video runs without sound.
The most common reason for such problems is Missing Codecs.

What are Codecs ?

Codes are set of well defined Audio/Video standards which are used to decode certain types of audio/video files. Some video formats are modern and use certain codes which may not be installed on your computer. In absence of such codes, the video will not run properly or may not run at all.

Lets see how we can fix out this trouble.

Fix:

The fix for this problem is very simple, all you need to do is to install certain codes or a Media player that has these codes built in.

List of good codecs and other media players for Windows:

1. VLC Media player: This is our number one choice in terms of features, simplicity and ease of use. This is a complete media player which can run a large variety of audio and video file types with ease and simplicity.It works really well with both Windows XP and also Windows Vista.

Download and install it from here.

2. K-Lite Mega Codec pack : This is a pack containing lots of codecs for a large number of audio and video formats.This codec pack also has a media player classic player also bundled with it. It works well with Windows XP but may not work very well with Windows Vista even may not seem compatible with vista.

Download and install it from here.

3.Vista codec pack : This is a codec pack meant exclusively for Windows media player in vista and after installation windows media player in vista will play almost all type of video files.

Download and install it from here.

Even after installing the needed codecs, if your computer is not running the videos, then you may need to check your graphics drivers then, See this post for details.

Enjoy the videos! Trouble Fixed.

Author + Admin: Abhishek Bhatnagar
Hi, I am a Software Engineer by profession and blogger by passion, I write about computer tips and tricks and solutions for computer problems. You can connect with me at twitter or know more about me on www.abhishekbhatnagar.com.