Problems Playing Videos on Vista

gary the great

I got a new laptop with Vista Basic and put all my videos on to it, but not 1 works properly. There all out of sync/ poor visability due to parts of the picture missing/some not even playing etc its a load of crap. Vista is really starting to get on my nerves.

The videos are a mix of mpegs, wmv, avi etc is there something I Can do to improve this (i presume some sort of codec pack?)

Im so close to going back to XP

lodgepole

Try downloading VLC Player. If it can play the videos perfectly then it's definitely a codec issue. I don't know exactly what codec pack to install, you're probably as well of just installing divx and xvid (google search for their sites) but i'm sure others will have recomended packs.

I have Vista Home Premium and haven't had a problem with codecs.

stanley1

Try this, fddshow usually very reliable codecs.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Codec-Packs-Video-Codecs/Advanced-Vista-Codec-Package.shtml

Shane O' Malley

As a matter of interest, what is the spec of your computer.

Just wondering if Vista is struggling to run on it and has not got enough spare capacity to play the videos.

I downloaded ffshow myself and have had not problems.

gary the great

Cheers will try fddshow later and see how it goes.

Im running a laptop with Vista basic, dual core processor and 1gb ram

stanley1

remove any other codecs you might have installed before installing fddshow.

8T8

Use this version of ffdshow tryout it includes fixes specific for Windows Vista.

Use Media Player Classic as the player for other media types outside the ones WMP does not play or use it for everything it can do both.

What kind of graphics chip have you got in the laptop as well as a driver update can cure some of the video playback problems ?

Ginger

I am having the same issue and I used the drop frames to audio sync option.,in the performance tab. Not the best but it will do for now.

I am fairly sure this is partly codec and partly driver related because of the new way that vista handles codecs..

Anyways here is a possible fix with VLC

http://computerbits.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/vlc-media-player-problem-under-vista/

gary the great

Thnaks for the replies lads but nothing worked. Installed the FFD codecs but now windows media doesnt play videos at all (but does play music), it just says there was a problem.

Tried VLC player and the videos play but there still really terrible quality???

8T8

What make laptop and what type graphics card is in it ?

gary the great

Its a Dell Inspiron 6400 with 1gig Ram Duo core processor and GRAPHICS CARD Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory and Im running it on Vista Basic.

It should be well able to handle playing a few videos?

8T8

Download these Intel GMA950 display drivers and install them.

After that try a video again and see if anything changes also be certain you have removed any codec packs you have installed with the exception of ffdshow tryout.

gary the great

Will try it when i get home thanks for your help 8T8

matt-dublin

what you actually will need is:
http://download.softpedia.com/dl/59493734cc3c8ed5eb1d476aa827c660/461e4ee1/100055586/software/multimedia/video/divx/VistaCodecs_v437.exe


Its the vista codecs package.

ffdshow doesn't really work on vista (from experience)

YOU DO NOT NEED TO REINSTALL YOUR VIDEO DRIVERS AS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

magic_murph

I have the same problem, Dell 1501, upgraded RAM from 1gb to 1.5.
When playing movies or music, it will play perfect but at some stage duing the clip, it swill slow right down and stutter then kick itself back into gear. Very annoying. I am going to throw an additional 500mb of RAM into it and install the codecs mentioned above and see what happens.
I think Dell recomend using 2Gb of RAM for vista, seems like a lot to me

matt-dublin

vista is very ram hungry, i've noticed it on ultimate, and there is still a few memory leak issues. I'm kinda half thinking of downgrading back to xp for the performance, but unfortunatly i really like the vista aero desktop so thats holding me back!!

But yes, recommended ram for vista is min 2gb, i have 1gb with a dual core processor and it tends to slow up quite alot

8T8

matt-dublin I strongly disagree on both points;

1) video display driver is important and are related In Windows Vista & many problems are down to stock display drivers which have issues with video codecs especially as the GPU renders the desktop & video in Vista.

2) FFDShow Tryout is compatible with Vista it includes specific fixes for Vista the codec pack you linked to is nothing more than a kitchen sink affair which often does more harm then good by including redundant codecs & includes an old build of FFDshow at it's core.

I highly recommend not installing any of those all in one codec packages. The only safe one in my book is the CCCP.


magic_murph I have the same laptop running Vista it is not a RAM issue you are having. Download and install this ATI display driver branded as the Catalyst Software Suite & try videos after that.

Could also be Cool & Quiet related as that is turned on by default try something you know which is affected with the high performance power profile set in the control panel just to see if it makes a difference.

matt-dublin

@ 8T8

I have used the latest ffdshow codec on vista ultimate,
it produced a hopping affect in both media player and media center.

Upon researching the problem i found that ffdshow was compatable on vista for some files but not all. Hence the vista codec pack which works perfectly for me on two laptops and a desktop.

8T8

FFdshow Tryout is a fork of ffdshow as is CCCP both are different from ffdshow and includes fixes not in the original ffdshow decoder (as it is no longer actively developed as it once was).

In particular ffdshow Tryout Beta 2 includes newer fixes intended for compatibility with Windows Vista (32 & 64-bit) I would not recommend people use the nightly/latest builds unless they know what they are doing.

That Vista codec pack uses ffdshow but also installs a bunch of other codecs with duplicate the decoding functions, ffdshow may or may even be doing the decoding for any given files and they also install VFW decoders which can cause all sort of issues.

I have put Vista on a fair few systems and not have any problems with ffsdshow tryout or CCCP builds of ffdshow so far & usually when troubleshooting it is those kitchen sink codec packs that are the cause of trouble.

Generally for average folk I install the CCCP in the system and leave it at that, for those that are more in tune with video codecs or with specific requirements/problems use ffdshow Tryout.

magic_murph

Thanks for teh post 8T8, I will be downloading and installing those files this evening, will let you know how it goes.