avi's only play black & white (& odd colours)

[Solar002]

My avi's played fine and then stopped working completely - WMP would just shut down. Gspot said I had the proper codecs. I installed ffdshow anyway and avi's would then play but only in black and white (with odd patches of colour) My mpg's etc. play fine. I would love to know what happened to cause this. I would also love a fix but remember to give it step by step as my knowledge is limited.
Much appreciated.

[tigerman8u]

Try uninstaling the codec/s and reinstalling them.

[LT. Columbo]

did you do anything to your system that may have caused this? try a system restore?

[Solar002]

help

I've discovered why I can't play avi's. I tried everything I could think of to solve the problem and finally tried a system restore which solved the problem. Then Microsoft update reinstalled it's updates and immediately I could no longer play avi's. I tried again to do a sytem restore but even though I tried many different dates and went back into January the system restore won't work anymore. I didn't know that could happen and I don't know why it did. I hope someone here has some advice because now if something else goes wrong I don't think I'll ever be able to depend on a system restore again. What the heck is going on with Microsoft. I know there are others starting to have the same problem because I've seen reports in chatrooms online.
Help!

[LT. Columbo]

what codecs/packs do you have installed?

[Solar002]

Microsoft WMP critical update caused my problem

Well, I got it all figured out. It's not a codec problem. The microsoft critical update for Windows Media Player stopped avi's from playing. System restore solved it but then updates reinstalled and I had the problem again. Then I couldn't get my computer to system restore again and finally figured out that my new virus scanner was the problem (Norton) I replaced my antivirus, system restored, chose not to install the WMP update and all is working.
My remaining problem is that I am apparently open to a hacker gaining control of my system through WMP if I don't install the update. Anyone have a fix for this problem?

[anonymez]

My remaining problem is that I am apparently open to a hacker gaining control of my system through WMP if I don't install the update.

nah, not really. imho don't update if it causes such issues

[burcs]

Well, I got it all figured out. It's not a codec problem. The microsoft critical update for Windows Media Player stopped avi's from playing. System restore solved it but then updates reinstalled and I had the problem again. Then I couldn't get my computer to system restore again and finally figured out that my new virus scanner was the problem (Norton) I replaced my antivirus, system restored, chose not to install the WMP update and all is working.
My remaining problem is that I am apparently open to a hacker gaining control of my system through WMP if I don't install the update. Anyone have a fix for this problem?

Sounds more like a video driver issue. I know for a while Nvidia's were having these exact types of trouble (odd coloring). There was a temp fix of disabling overlays in WMP options. But I believe the issue has been corrected with the newer drivers.

If you really want that update, then after you install it go to your video card's official site and get the latest drivers. If you still get odd colors then disable overlays in WMP options. If that fixes it, you know it's a driver issue, and will have to look for some non-official ones or roll back to earlier versions.

Usually a safe bet is to just uninstall your current drivers, then do a Windows update. They will have the latest "signed" drivers available for your card. But they can be a little old.