I cannot watch videos:
Well this has got to be one of the most common questions to ask and needless to say is often answered in the most simple of terms. I will give a little fuller account and explanation here to ensure that the most people possible have their problem (this problem) resolved without having to go anywhere else for assistance.
If you are running Windows then the first thing I would do is download GSpot from here. There is no GSpot on Linux but there is a nice how-to which will help you and you can get that here.The same is true of Macs, and again a how-to is available here.
So how does GSpot help us. Well, every multimedia file you try to view or listen to has been converted via an encoder into a particular file type, such as MP3, MPEG, AVI etc. These files types need to be decoded by your multimedia player so that it can play it. This is like translating a foreign language into your language so you can understand it. So to play an AVI file you need to have an AVI translation program - these translation programmes are called Codecs. So to view an AVI you need the AVI Codec. There are many different kinds of codecs and many codecs are available from different suppliers. If you know what codecs are required to view a particular file then you will be able to download and install that particular coded.
Multimedia files that is files with both sound and vision have two streams - the audio stream and the video stream. Each stream needs a codec to translate it into something that we humans can understand. So we normally need two codecs per multimedia file. Fortunately, most files use the same common encoding methods, such as RealMedia (.rm), MPEGS, (.mpg or .mpe or .mpeg), and QuickTime (.qt or .mov). Another recent encoder thathas found favour because of online streaming video sites such as YouTubeis Flash Videos (.flv).
GSpot not only tells you which codec is required for both the visual side of the multimedia file but also the audio side, it also tells you if you have it installed. If you can not see a film but have the codec installed it is most likely that the codec has become corrupted and needs uninstalled, then re-installed. Other problems are different versions of the same codec. But with this knowledge you can ultimately, and quickly tell if it is the film itself that is corrupt.
Some people suggest you install particular codec packs - this is an option, however, I would not reccomend doing this, as many codec packs require the user to have an indepth knowledge of not only the pack itself but also the codecs that it supplies. It is very easy to damage your whole multimedia system by installing these packs. So please be very careful if you take this option and make sure you are installing the correct codec pack for your system operating system XP, Vista etc and its versions x32 or x64 versions and yiour chip type i for intel and often a for AMD. So if you are wanting a codec pack for Windows Vista x64 on an AMD chip you would look for a codec pack marked Windows Vista xa64. Unfortunately this is not always how the packs are presented to you. So I would suggest save yourself some time and effort and aviod the packs.
Find the codec you are missing and install that codec alone. As an aside, VCL media player is also a very good programme to fix some of your multimedia problems, I believe it installs a number of codecs for you including alternatives to QuickTime and RealMedia's proprietory codecs.
