Windows Media Player cannot play videos with .AVI extensions

Windows Media Player cannot play videos with .AVI extensions

Hi Jessica,

It may be frustrating to find out that the movie you downloaded just would not be seen after all the methods you’ve tried. Maybe if you take the time to read, then perhaps one of the solutions here can finally give you the satisfaction of viewing the .avi files you wanted so much to watch.

• Lack of codecs is the cause of your being unable to view .avi files on windows media player. For this case all you have to do is download the proper codecs here http://www.divx.com/en, install and reopen windows media player to try it out.

• Another codec pack worth mentioning is the “K-Lite Codec Pack” http://www.free-codecs.com//www.free-codecs.com/download/k_lite_codec_pack.htm , a collection of codecs and other multimedia tools. It includes support for almost every multimedia codec out there. It also includes with it a version of the venerable Classic Windows Media Player of older windows versions, revamped with so many useful features. Just download, install and choose either to run your .avi file from Windows Media Player or choose the classic version.

• There exists a versatile media player called “VLC" (VideoLAN Player) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html that has the ability to play just about any multimedia file there is. You have to try it out to appreciate a nicer set of features that are unavailable on other multimedia players in the market.

• There is a tool called “SHERLOCK: The Codec Detective” http://www.updatexp.com/sherlock-codec-detective.html that tries to find out problems with codecs on your particular computer. Install to run a codec report that informs you about broken codecs, to give you an idea of what has gone wrong when trying to play specific file formats.

• Running the System File Checker on your machine may help restore system files that may have been corrupted by replacing them with the original versions. Just go to “Start > Run”, type “CMD” without the quotes and enter “sfc /scannow” without the quotes.

• Upgrading Windows Media Player to the latest version https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14209/get-windows-media-player may solve the codec issues mentioned. Choose the right version for your specific operating system, download and install to upgrade.

• An older version of the codec finder called the “Gspot” http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ previously mentioned does almost the same, except that it finds out what codecs are needed to play a media file that won’t play.

I’m sure that the first few suggestions I made have solved it for you as it did for me, having spent countless hours looking for the right codec in the past.