Ive got this avi file I cannot open, I have divx5 installed but It doesn't seem to help. Windows medial player tells me "Windows Media Player cannot open 'C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\d.avi'. You may need to reboot to complete installation of a downloaded component. Please verify that the path and filename are correct and try again." and real player8 tells me "The file contains an unsupported audio format. The needed codec is not installed on your system." Is there a way i can find out what codec I need?

Did you try to open it with the divx 2.0 player? It worked for me with one file that wouldn't open with Windows media player! http://www.divx.com/showcase/

Hi Ghost, 2 links I had saved from when I had a similar problem. It may help http://www.divx-digest.com/software/divxcodec.html http://www.moviecodec.com/identifycodec/avi.shtml

Hi, ghost. As you may know, most of the problems when playing .avi files are caused for cedecs missing in your system. Of course, DivX is an important one, but there are some others as important as this. Go here: http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files011.shtml And download the following files: -mpeg4x.zip: This is the MPEG 4 codec (MPG4C32.dll). This is the main cause of .avi issues. Problem is that Windows Media Player 6.4 or higher installs a version of this codec (4.2) that is not 100% compatible with some avi videos. This version (4.0) works perfect. This .Zip file doesn't include an installer. You should extract MPG4C32.dll and mpeg4fix.inf to a temporary folder, right click on mpeg4fix.inf and click on "install". This should work for most avi files. -iv5setup.exe: Indeo video and audio codecs. Some avi files need this one. -Codinstl.zip: Intel I263 codec. It is an old codec, but there are many files still on the net created with it. I did all of this and really works. There are many other audio/video codecs and tools in this great web site (but don't install the AngelPotion codec. Real trouble!). Hope this helps.

Thanks guys I'll give that stuff a try

Get this great little program called Codec Viewer. It will show you which codec is needed for AVI files. Codec Viewer

AND THANK YOU Roger The Shrubber!