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Welll, I meant to format my C drive once - was kind of overdue for the cleanup. But I've now formatted and reinstalled my operating system twice in the last 2 days and I still can't figure out what's going on here. Suddenly more than half my mpeg's are an unsupported file type and can't be played? This includes video that's been burnt to disk already and always played fine before this mess. I haven't changed the codecs I use or the media player (WMP6.4) Anyone out there have an idea of what to look at next? Thanks in advance for any help
Is the file extension mp3 or something different. Did you install any service packs? Is that the same version of WMP you previously used? As far as video is concerned, I don't think WMP 6.4 supports playback of any video files. Try Winamp 5.03. I like it better than WMP.
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As I said in my first post - I haven't changed anything. I've been using WMP6.4 for years now. And I'm really not so naïve as to confuse an mp3 for a video file.
You don't think WMP6.4 supports video??? Not sure what to say about that...
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From where I am sitting I can't see what your level of knowledge is. I have not used WMP for years so my knowledge of WMP is limited. WMP 6.4 is old though. I didn't think you were confusing mp3 for video. What I was thinking is that some 3rd party player had changed the file extensions to a propietory one. Chill out. Obviously your installation can't be an exact duplicate of what you did have. If it were, the files would play.
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I apologize for my attitude - With over 300 gigs of video at stake here, I'll admit to being a bit more than frantic right now.
If this trouble were only apparent on files that are on my hard drive, I'd simply figure there's some virus or other problem that somehow slipped through the scans. But I've got files on read-only discs that won't play. I agree - something's not the same as it was. I just can't for the life of me figure out what would render an mpeg an unsupported file type. I won't say it's impossible, but I find it highly unlikely that 2 installs of the operating system - from two separate (AND legitimate!) copies of image discs, installed on a drive that I'd written all zeroes to - would both come up damaged to the point where this could happen.
Maybe I'll just give up WinDoze altogether and get back into fishing...
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I ask again, what is the file extension on the files. Also the status of the service packs in relation to the old install. Were these files on a different partition when you formatted? Or did you backup and then restore them. When copying to optical media the attributes are changed to read only. You may need to change back to archive only. This shouldn't prevent WMP from playing those files though, just thought I would throw that out as a difference. I suggest trying a different player. As I said, Winamp 5.03 work fine for me. Could be something to do with rights management. That won't be an issue with winamp.
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Try Winamp5.03, if all the needed codecs aren't installed I think they are bundled with the program.
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"I've now formatted and reinstalled my operating system"
"I haven't changed anything"
I'm not sure how to reconcile those two statements. So you formatted your drive and reinstalled your OS and now your mpegs won't play?
There are many types of video formats that Windows Media Player can't play without third-party codecs installed. Mpeg2, xvid, divx, fourcc, 3vix, mpeg4, for example. Any of these formats could be used in a *.mpg video file. The problem is most likely that you simply don't have the required codecs installed.
My suggestion to you is to install some common codecs (Mpeg2, divx, and xvid specifically) and see if that allows Media Player to play some of your videos.
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By "haven't changed anything", I mean that I installed the operating system just as I always do. I'm not shy about formatting and do so on a regular basis to keep things running as smoothly as possible. (Some smooth here, huh?) Maybe I'm not stating my case right here. The files in question (type .mpg) had always played fine, regardless of any additional codecs that were installed after setting up a fresh install of the o/s. That leads me to believe they are supposed to use the codecs that are install at setup.
Yes, I could easily try another player. But, again, I've been using WMP6.4 in the past with no problem- My question here is why I suddenly have problems seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe, to make it clearer, I'll draw the analogy of driving to work everyday, using the same roads, only to wind up somewhere other than at the job. It just makes no sense that you could do the same thing all the time and get a different result.
And, by the way, I DO appreciate the follow-ups here... I'll go back to shaking my head for a while now
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If these files show up as "unsupported" it can only mean one thing: there is no file association. No get stuck on "a new install and they don't work"
A program needs to be installed. Which one you will have to figure out.
Clearly your "new" installs do NOT contain the same programs as your "old" install. There are MS updates for WMP. Have you updated?
There is another possiblity. Since you have a new install and this means a new security identifier, this very well may mean you don't have RIGHTS to open these files even if you have the right programs installed.
To fix this issue the usual solution is to "take ownership" of the files/folders. You do this via the security tab in folder properties and the advanced button. Make sure the check the box to propogate your ownership to lower level files and folders.
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