Clearly on MM/XP he had third party software loaded to make that work. What
software was he using on that system?

Codec installation location here was just for their supporting binaries. If
you check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\
Drivers32 , value vidc.xvid , you'll note that it was installed to system32.

You're mixing apples and oranges by assuming that the playback filter that
the player points you to will work for editing too. The player codec
download system was never meant to ensure that your file editing works,
merely file playback.

The good behavior by vendors is to include a disc that would have the
software (codec) needed for playing and editing the content that the camera
produces: are you really saying that that camera didn't do that? That would
seem pretty unfriendly of the camera vendor. =(

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"PapaJohn" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to help as many as I can to do the right thing... just having
difficulty figuring out what that right thing is. Here's a case study from
last week. I post it just for info...

- a customer told me Movie Maker 6 on his new Vista system can't use the
video files from his camera, files he routinely used in MM2.1 in XP.

- I asked for the brand and model camera and a sample clip. The camcorder
is a Samsung PMP Digimax i6 6 Megapixel camera, and the clip he sent was
an AVI file from it.

- On my Vista Ultimate system, I double-clicked the file. WMP11 opens and
the file plays.... audio only... the video is blackness. Next to the
clip's name is a circled red X icon with a tool tip that said "Windows
Media Player encountered an error. Click the icon for more information".

- I clicked the icon to see "A codec is required to play the file. To
determine if the codec is available to download from the Web, click Web
Help". It provided a button named 'Web Help'.... I pressed it.

- That opened a Microsoft website page saying I've enountered error
message C00D10D1.... because the XVID MPEG-4 (XVID) coec is not
installed...". "The missing codec might be available to download from the
Internet. To search for the XVID MPEG-4 (XVID) codec see
WMPlugins.com.".... It provides a link.

- The link to WMPlugins.com did the search for me. "Codec found".... the
page said it's version 1.0.2 last updated Nov 18, 2004, with a footnote
saying "Functionality may be limited on OSes other than Windows XP. See
partner site for details". It gives a link to the 'Xvid codec download
site', which I press.

- From there I accepted the notice that Microsoft is not at all
responsible for what happens next.... OK.... now I'm at an Xvid Movies
site with two Xvid codec links (Windows and Mac). The link says it's Xvid
codec v1.1.3 for Windows. I download the small executable.

- When I run it, Vista gave me a security warning about the file not
having a valid digital signature that verifies the publisher.... OK

- The screen went black for a couple seconds, followed by a User Account
Control notice about an unidentified program wanting to access my
computer.... 'Allow'...

- I was then at the Xvid Setup Wizard... I accepted the GPU agreement...
then for info it tells me "... Remember, this binary is for educational
testing purposes only! You agree to keep me free of any (legal) issues
involved with downloading and using this binary!".... 'Next'....

- The installation was to c:\Program Files\Xvid... with no more warnings
or choices

- With the codec installed, I double-clicked the AVI file again... it
played fine in WMP11. But in Movie Maker 6 the audio part played but not
the video. It was time for a file conversion.

- I used VirtualDub to convert it... there are few compression choices
available to VirtualDub. Each made a file that played OK in WMP11, but
acted as an audio only file in Movie Maker 6. The available compression
codecs are....

- Microsoft Video 1
- Cinepak
- Intel IYUV-140
- Intel IYUV.

I fell back to using the Uncompressed option in VirtualDub.... the only
file that worked fine in both WMP11 and Movie Maker 6.

Taking the high road in Vista Ultimate, and doing the 'right thing' by
following each of the steps in the path that Microsoft pointed me to, ends
up doing a file conversion to an uncompressed file.... the starting clip
was 8 MB in size and the uncompressed AVI file that I had to use in Movie
Maker was 1.07 GB for a 38 second clip.

The high road might be the right one, but it sure doesn't seem very
inviting. I guess this scenerio meets the criteria of using the codec for
'educational testing purposes only'. Does that mean I can't take the high
road if this was for one of my commercial projects?
--
website references are to www.papajohn.org

PapaJohn