codec packs...good or bad ?

I just read these articles,I think that anyone one who uses them might want to take a look,they made me kind of nervous since i use them myself (Vista Codec pack from shark 007) or maybe I'm a sucker for bad news ?

http://www.howtogeek.com/wiki/Why_Codec_Packs_Are_Bad

http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2004/07/04/9546.aspx

 

Talk about hitting the Nail on the head :-D

Been using K-lite for years with 0 problems even the new x64 one works like a charm

 

I have been using the KLite Mega Pack for at least 2-3 years and never had any issues with codecs that were caused by the codec pack. I did have an issue that was caused by a left-over ATI file from when I changed from an ATI video card to an NVidia card, and the ATI uninstaller left some garbage behind that would cause certain AVI files to lock up Windows Explorer. As soon as the ATI file was tracked down and removed, the problem disappeared. I have used the Storm pack and (more recently) the Vista pack and have still not had any issues with any of 'em. With PCs, there will always be some people that have problems with something, while the majority have no problems with it; this applies to both hardware and software.

Well said, my friend. Somehow, the myth of the "Registry Optimizer" being a fix-all/cure-all for all the PC ills and slowness was thrown at an uninformed public, and was swallowed, hook, line and sinker. I have seen many systems where a noob-ish user "optimized" the registry to death with 4 or 5 different apps; when the first one didn't fix the problem and make the PC amazingly fast and stable, they tried a 2nd, then a 3rd, and so on. Kind of off topic, but about a month ago, a dude had just purchased a brand new AMD Phenom2 720 triple core system, 4gb DDR2, 2x500gb SATA RAID, GTX275 video card. The PC was fast. Like really fast. In the first 24hrs of ownership, he infected the PC by clicking on one the "You're PC appears to have 3214 registry errors and is running slow. Click here to speed up your PC and remove these errors". Even though it's a brand new PC, with a brand new clean XP install, no crashing, no errors, no lag, running really fast, he read this and thought "jeez, my PC is slow. I better fix it" and he clicked "here" and hosed his PC.....

 

Don't use any packs.

What for, if a single "Media Player Classic – Home Cinema" file takes care of everything I need to play?

 

I've used the klite packs in the past and the cccp ones now. Never had any problem with them. If you don't want to install them, but still want to view files that windows, by default, cant play, then you can install vlc player.

 

havent seen that one yet, i will look into it.

its a media player with built in codecs, similar to vlc. I've noticed that mkv files are not as good looking in vlc, with it's built in codec, as it is in media player classic (not the home cinema version, just the original, using ffshow codec)

 

Personally, I use K-Lite Codec Pack, not much trouble at all (except the occasional "COM Surrogate has experienced an error"). I do a bit of video edits, I've found ffdshow to be one of the better decoders, and I usually to encode my videos to Xvid. But sometimes I find others to be better for certain situations.

For watching videos, I use either Media Player Classic or VLC Media Player, depending on situation.

VLC is also pretty decent (built-in codecs, great for portability) but not the best quality decoding.

EDIT: Also funny is that for a while, I couldn't get any programs to encode to Xvid, "statsfile not found." Just recently checked the settings and found out it was "Two-pass, 2nd pass," which is why it wasn't working, I set it to single-pass.

 

Well, I suppose not.
In my view it's just makes more sense to start small, from MPC-HC, and if it would not play absolutely anything that you have, then consider installing ffdshow and/or Haali Media Splitter. So only what is really needed will be installed.

Personally, I use latest SVN build of MPC-HC from this site. There you can find builds for both x86 and x64 systems.

I prefer MPC-HC over VLC, because colors are more rich and saturated in the former, and also can apply and combine DirectX Shaders presets to enhance/tweak the picture.

 

I would disagree here
This does not involve adjustment of codecs, it is an adjustment of video output, which is a separate layer from codecs, and in regards to shaders, - these are video effects or postprocessing, which is a separate layer as well.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/3819/screenshot1f.th.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7639/screenshot2uzm.th.jpg

I would disagree here as well
Because only a single file is necessary for operation of MPC-HC as opposed to a much larger number of files in a codec pack, and MPC-HC would not set itself as a default system wide rendered of media, as for example does ffdshow. And it is often ffdshow which is used as a default renderer in codec packs. That is why ffdshow has blacklists and whitelists, so a game or an application which would otherwise malfunction using ffdshow, would be safe.

 

thank you all for your input,
it set my mind at ease,I do realize that there are cynics & critics who for the most part are the self-serving type,also there is usually a flip side to just about anything ,the only problem I've experienced with the 007 codecs is that it would delete some files in the "Real" lite alternative player i use (mainly to view C-Span)in the the MPC player,the option omitting the real tab during the install (x=out)didn't make a difference,so now by routine i uninstall the "Real player Alt" before i update the new package,then reinstall,no problems,When i upgraded to WMP 11,my older version of power DVD would not sync DVD's anymore(windows help said that i needed to upgrade(purchase $$$) the newer power DVD player to get the codec that i needed for the sync to function again,so after doing some research here,and reading the post of others with similar issues ,that installing the the codec pack may solve the the problem,and in my case it did,made my old program compatible again without shelling out a few bucks for a newer version of "Power DVD",and never had any other system issues with it either.

 

good to hear it. Why pay for some thing that should be free (no player or codec should cost money)

If your into Video feeds give MIRO a shot I just started using it and its pretty nice
http://www.getmiro.com/

and their is allays Boxee (the best net TV. media experience)
http://www.boxee.tv/homepage/

Both cost nothing and bloat free like it should be

 

just to self promote, using the promotions of others.

Vista Codec Package Rating: 4.83 out of 5 (3102 votes) - pretty nice statistic for a codecpack

Over 3000 MajorGeeks users have given VCP top marks. the reason: it does as it should.
If you want to continue to use archaic software such as Klite go ahead, but, there is a modern solution for modern Operating Systems
If and when you get around to checking out Windows 7, I also create the Win7codecs specifically for that system too.
By the way, the Vista Codec Package is 100% certified to work on Windows XP.

I don't know knock the use of all in one players like VLC or Media Player Classic but for those that prefer using
Windows Media Player, Media Center, or any other Directshow player, my software installation will have you smiling in seconds.
Do you have an x64 Operating System? The x64Components addon will get everything working in x64 players such as Media Center.