# Exasperating Windows Media Player problem.  Help!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperating-windows-media-player-problem-help/229964>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 19, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperating-windows-media-player-problem-help/229964 "2004-02-19T05:45:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperating-windows-media-player-problem-help/229964/1 "2004-02-19T05:45:07Z")

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A buddy of mine gave me a CD full of video clips of Tom Waits TV appearances, videos, etc. While I was at his place, I watched one of them, an AVI of Tom doing “Eggs and Sausage” from _Nighthawks at the Diner_ on SNL. THe performance is absolutely amazing.

However, I got the CD back home, and suddenly I can’t get the video track. Just the audio. Every time WMP pulls up the file, it gives me a “downloading codec” message, quickly followed by “error downloading codec.” Grrrr…this is an AVI, not some exotic, proprietary video format.

I updated WMP. No luck. I searched the net. No luck. I emailed Microsoft. HA!

I wondered if the server was being naughty, but if so, it’s been that way for two weeks.

I turned off my firewall. I adjusted the permissions. I prayed with all my snow-white soul.

No. Luck.

Can anybody help me? Please?

While we’re at it, why the FUCK does XP list the “file type” in explorer as some descriptor, instead of the plain ol’ file extension? It took me half an hour just to make sure the file was, in fact, an AVI, and that’s what the undescriptive “Video Clip” means.

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**Author:** ![Fredescu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/73ab20/32.png) [@Fredescu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredescu)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperating-windows-media-player-problem-help/229964/2 "2004-02-19T06:00:16Z")

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Not all .avi files are created equal. There are a number of possible codecs that you might need, but the mostly likely one is the popular [DivX](http://www.divx.com/divx/?src=toptab_divx_from_/index.php). Just get the free Standard DivX codec rather than the not-so-free (or ad supported _shudder_) DivX Pro.

To display file extensions, go to Tools, Folder Options, View, and untick ‘Hide File Extensions for Known File Types’

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**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exasperating-windows-media-player-problem-help/229964/3 "2004-02-19T06:07:21Z")

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Sweet Jesus, it worked.

**Zharklm** , thank you so much. You, and the SDMB, rock.