No video - all file types, except on .DAT on DivX Player

[underhook]

Have a weird problem here guys. Whenever I play video (any format) on any of the players (WM10, Real, MPC, DivX, etc) in my computer, there is only audio, but no video. The screen displays a sort of gray--not blank black, but becomes this sort of gray when the audio starts.
And then(!), I discovered that if I play two .DAT files (copied from VCD) in succession in my DivX Player 2.5, I can now play any video (any format) on any player. Sort of like playing the .DAT files on the DivX Player unlocks something. But(!), if I exit DivX Player, I go back to the same problem with the other players--so I have to keep the DivX Player open.
And then(!), another development: when I installed the new DivX 6.4, the procedure above doesn't work any more, meaning no more video at all. So I had to reinstall the old DivX, do the "unlock" procedure (play 2 .DAT files), so I could play video again.
What do you think is the problem guys?

My computer is a Prestigio laptop running Windows XP Pro. Pentium 4 2.4GHz, 512 RAM.

[olyteddy]

Try VLC player. If that works, you either have a codec problem or a video driver problem. You might try turning off Video Acceleration in DXDiag (render without overlay) and see if that helps.

[underhook]

Tried VLC, same result: no video, audio only. How do I do your second suggestion (video acceleration in dxdiag)? I can't seem to find that option in DXDiag.

[paglamon]

I can't seem to find that option in DXDiag.

Under DISPLAY/DirectX Features

[underhook]

Really sorry, but it's not here... see screenshot below

[olyteddy]

Try clicking those three buttons marked 'Disable'. If that doesn't get your vid working, turn them back on. You might also use the two test buttons on that tab.

[underhook]

So cool! That worked! Thanks a lot! Madaming salamat!

Last question, though: do you guys know why the problem took place? Is it because my hardware is incapable of video acceleration? And, what do I lose now, now that it's disabled? Would the videos be of somewhat lower quality?

[anonymez]

And, what do I lose now, now that it's disabled?

slower windows UI, and any gaming. re-enable the options in directx, instead try a player that allows you to specify the renderer (eg media player classic, zoom player, and VLC too i believe) and use VMR9

has this always happened?

[underhook]

slower windows UI, and any gaming. re-enable the options in directx, instead try a player that allows you to specify the renderer (eg media player classic, zoom player, and VLC too i believe) and use VMR9

has this always happened?

nope... started happening sometime when my laptop was around 2 years old. Hehe, wasn't really able to track what I did which caused this. But afterwards, even if I reinstall my OS, the problem remains.

Tried your suggestion with MPC. Doesn't work How do I do it in VLC? I get drowned in the plethora of options I can't find where that VMR9 is in there 0_o

For now, disabling acceleration is the only thing that works.

[olyteddy]

That means your video chip driver probably has a problem. http://www.driverzone.com/device.php?id=2026 has the driver for your video chip and http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.mspx will get you to the current direct x.