windows media player error

i am receiving an error when trying to open many of my media files with windows media player 10. the error is: “windows media player cannot play the file. The player might no support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file”. I have tried to open up these same files with a different media player and I am unable to open them still. Any one familiar with this?

you have the option in windows media player to "download codecs"
you can check if you have the installed codecs by opening the file in Gspot.

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

or simply download a codec package.

also, i forgot to mention that when i open some of my files a different ifle will play that is not the file that i selected. for example, i tryed to open one of my audiobooks and one of my songs started to play.

hey shelflife, im having this issue with mainly mp3's. Are codecs just for video combined with audio, or for mp3's also?

see if these ms links help:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme…dvice/0071.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme…/faq/codec.mspx

ive done what they suggested and the conclusion the only option left is that something is wron with the file itself. But, these files worked fine at one time, and its not just a couple of files. Were talking many gigs of audio and video. when using the gspot: sometimes i have the codec that is needed to play the file, yet it still does not play. other times gspot doesnt even recognize the file extension or format (the format was avi). i dont know what else to do……

might try this codec package, and just this one as its best really to only get the codec you need and not have a bunch on your computer to cause conflicts:

K-Lite Codec Pack Basic

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

the k lite codec pack helped some, a few of my videos now play. But, still the vast majority do not. i also noticed that im getting this same issue with pdfs. its wierd…

hello shelflife. so, i just went thru alot of my files to see what works and what doesnt. There are alot of files that play a different file when i play them, i did not think there was so many. Also, the pdf error about not recognizing format affects about 90% of my pdf's. if it turns out that these files are corrupted, is there anything that i can do?

you said you tried another media player? might try zoom player standard (standard version dosnt play dvd's)or
vlc media player. dont forget to associate file formats with the player.


http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

if you still have problems, i would uninstall all but 1 of the media players.
not trying to put you off, but i think you will find more help at another forum that deals with nothing but audio/video and everything in between. or stay here and i will try to help.

http://www.videohelp.com/

http://www.afterdawn.com/index.cfm

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/asf2avi.htm

i downloaded some more codecs and more of my files work now, but they are playing as other files. i dont know what is going on. i posted at the links u suggested also. let me know if u come across anything. thanks.