[evilfantasy]

Windows Media Player may be the most widely used player, but like many MS utilities it is sometimes inefficient. It lacks many popular codecs so needs some help with a third party codec pack.

There is a big risk when it comes to clicking on links to download a codec. Many contain malware that is designed to steal your personal information among containing other forms of malware that will slow down or even crash your computer.

If there is a media file that says it needs anything besides what the below codec packs include it likely contains malware!

One code pack may work on one computer better then on another so there is a selection to choose from. I use the K-Lite Codec Pack (full) and have never needed anything else. These are in no particular order. They are all worthy and trusted to be malware free.

K-Lite Codec Pack (Full) - This download is for the Full package and contains all the codecs a normal user would ever need.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack - This download is for the Mega package and is aimed at pro video users.

K-Lite Codec Tweak Tool - Scans for broken filters and remove them.

Codec Pack All-in-1 - Do you download movies and get confused by all the different formats and codecs? Now you don't need to worry about downloading your movie codecs separately, you can do it all in one go.

XP Codec Pack - XP Codec Pack is one of the most complete codec pack which helps you to play all major audio and video formats.

Vista Codec Package - With this package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players' capabilities, to play DVD's, movies and video clips of almost any filetype. Streaming video is supported in all popular web browsers.

Vista x64 Codecs

Windows 7 Codecs

Windows 7 x64 Codecs

Microsoft - Using codecs

Wikipedia - Codec

If you have any questions please feel free to ask in our forums.

[evilfantasy]

Updated to include Windows 7 Codecs, Vista and Windows 7 x64 codecs.