# DivX in Windows Media Player... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760 "2002-09-03T05:37:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/1 "2002-09-03T05:37:47Z")
I’m kinda new here, so I don’t know if this has already been asked… but anyways… Until recently, I’d been running Win 98 on my computer, and had somehow (don’t ask me how I did it!) managed to get my DivX movies working on Windows Media Player 7. Now, after upgrading and changing to Win XP, I’ve been trying to get those same movies to run on the Media Player that comes with XP, but it just doesn’t work. After giving up trying to work it, I installed some other DivX player (which worked fine). A few days later, I wanted to view a .avi file, and it opened in the Windows Media Player. Until now, .avi files had never run on this program!! So then I tried the DivX movies, but they still don’t work (on Media Player). I’m wondering if there is any way to get DivX files to work on the XP version of Media Player, and if yes, then how? ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/2 "2002-09-03T10:53:41Z")
Try reinstalling your DivX drivers. Be sure to get all the different versions, there are at least three separate DivX codecs. If the picture is upside down, try a program called DivXG400. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/3 "2002-09-03T11:14:02Z")
if you can play DivX movies in another player it means you have the codec. It may well be WinMP refuses to use that codec and in fact I had heard something about this. My WinMP V6.4.07 with WIN98SE plays DivX encoded movies with no problem but it may be that MS has disabled it later because the DivX codec was reversed engineered from MS and they didn’t like that. MS has a history of introducing changes to make their products incompatible with other products ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/4 "2002-09-03T12:58:47Z")
Thanks **Mr2001** , didn’t know about there being 3 different codecs! ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/5 "2002-09-03T14:37:46Z")
There are, indeed, 3 separate Divx codecs, they are versions 3.11, 4, and 5. However, there’s no need to download all 3 as each new release is backwardly compatible with the previous versions. I only have Divx 5 installed on my computer at the moment. Also, **sailor’s** only partially right about Divx being a hacked version of the MS MPEG4 standard. Only 3.11 was based on hacked code. Versions 4 and 5 are legit codecs built from the ground up. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if MS disabled all Divx support. Personally, I haven’t used that Media Player bloatware POS in years. I much prefer the more streamlined freeware, [ZoomPlayer](http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/). ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/6 "2002-09-03T15:10:47Z")
Hodge, for some reason DivX V5 does not play all movies for me so I have to also install V3. I do have a vague recollection of reading MS intended to disable DivX ---
**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/7 "2002-09-04T05:09:14Z")
I read something along the lines of 3.11 contains pirated MS code of some kind. 4 & 5 are legitimate codecs and don’t play 3.11 encoded files. Anyways, I downloaded from this site a file that is your one stop codec shop. [http://www.btinternet.com/~nimosiro/](http://www.btinternet.com/~nimosiro/) Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/8 "2002-09-04T14:44:25Z")
I’ve had DivX 4 on my pc for a while, works great. What advantages does 5 have? ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divx-in-windows-media-player/126760/9 "2002-09-04T15:36:52Z")
The differences between versions have less to do with quality than with licencing issues. As stated before, 3.11 was an illegal hack of an MS codec. Version 4 started life as an open source codec under the auspices of a group called Project Mayo. From this, another offshoot codec arose, Xvid, that allowed the use of the OGG audio compression format. Divx 4 was later made closed source, but the damage was done. Sooo, Divx 5 was created from the start to be a closed source, for profit codec. There are apparently some psycho-acoustical and psycho-visual enhancements to the Divx 5 codec that may allow for higher quality at lower bitrates but the last time I checked, the buzz on some of the A/V boards was that these enhancements were still very experimental and yielded inconsistent results. As more and more people make use of Divx 5 it will definitely be worth the upgrade (there is a free, as well as pay version of the codec). Some useful sites for further reading: [Official Divx Homepage](http://www.divx.com/) [VCD Help](http://www.vcdhelp.com/)