Which video codec do I need?
 

WindowsXP
P4 2.00 GHz
1GB RAM
40GB (861MB remaining :( )

So I downloaded this random movie (OK FINE it was porn) and both Windows Media Player 9 and Winamp 5.0 can't play the video. Windows Media Player just said "Error [something] playback" but it didn't tell me what format the video is or what codec I need.

Is there any way to find out what format or what codec I need? I maybe a codec pack that will have wat I need? Thanks a lot for your help.

check out this link

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/play#identify

it links u to 2 programs : gspot (for iding mpegs and avi codec (for avi's))

good luck

Thanks for the link, The_Dude. I installed AviCodec and it works just fine!

Get a codec pack so you don't have to download an individual codec each time you can't watch something. IMO, Defiler pack and K-lite are the best. A lot of people like Nimo's, but I've found it to be pretty buggy.

A program called "gspot" (you can find it on www.doom9.net) will tell you exactly what codecs you need for a specific file. It's useful if you've got stuff you don't know how to play.

I use Ifran view for the stanger formats it seems to like every codec and file format for pics and movies.