How do I figure out which codec I need?

[picopico98]

Hi,
I'm trying to open a video file which is in "mpeg" file. I already have the divx 3.11 and 4 versions and I am usually able to open these files without a problem. However, some files that open in windows media player seem to play back the audio, yet instead of video it is replaced with the windows media audio visualizaiton as if I'm simply listening to an mp3 file. Is there a way to determine which codecs I would need by looking at a file? Thanks pico.

[Enchanter]

For MPG files, it's either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. For the former, Windows natively supports their playback. For the latter, you need to have a DVD player software, such as PowerDVD, installed to be able to play them.

For AVI files, you need to determine what codec is used to compress them. Gspot can be used for this task.

[pureserb]

need codec

For mpeg-1 and 2 you sound card softver can play it no problem same as windows media player you jast have to open AVSEQ 1 THAT IS FILE IN MPEG FOLDER