Windows 7 Vista Problems - Computer Learning Zone

Windows 7 Vista Problems
By Richard Rost

19 years ago

Some users running Windows Vista or Windows 7 are having problems with 599CD videos. Either the videos won't play properly (you see video but no audio) or they're getting this error message:

"An audio codec is needed to play this file. To determine if this codec is available to download from the web, click web help"

When Microsoft released Vista they also came out with a new version of Windows Media Player (version 11). Our tutorials are recorded using Windows Media Player 7, and the audio is incompatible.

There is a file you can download called an "audio CODEC" that will make our videos play just fine in the new Windows Media Player.

CODEC PACKAGE DOWNLOAD

Yes, it's perfectly safe to download and install this file. I have tested it and it works perfectly.

Update:

First let me say that I STRONGLY recommend you watch my tutorials online using the Theater site. The interface is MUCH better than the downloadable Video Player PLUS there's no software to install. I have both the Flash player and Windows Media Player available online. If you have the ability to watch the lessons online, you should do so. If you can watch videos on YouTube, you should have no problems watching my videos online.

   /Theater

With that having been said, some of my students have indicated that my videos aren't playing properly for them on Windows 7 with 64bit Windows Media Player. I've tested it myself on 3 different machines, and it works fine for me - and I cannot recreate the problem, so I believe it's a sporadic error.

To try and fix this problem, first try running a Windows Update. This may correct the issue. Some PCs are still running the ORIGINAL release version of Windows 7, and there were some bugs in there.

If that doesn't work, try manually downloading the latest version of Windows Media Player, which you can get from Microsoft's web site here:

   http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/windows-media

Another alternative is to download the Windows Media 9 Codecs manually. Yes, I know you have a newer version of Windows Media Player, but all of my videos were COmpressed with WM9 and so you need to DECompress them with the WM9 Codec (which is what a CO-DEC does). You can download the Codecs here:

   /?XWM9CODEC

I think the problem may be that Microsoft (in their infinite wisdom) isn't distributing the older WM9 Codec with the newer versions of Windows Media Player. Some systems, however, are able to automatically download the Codec from Microsoft's web site and don't have the problem. Other systems can't (if they're offline, behind a firewall, etc.). This is probably where the problem is coming in.

Now, if those solutions don't work, you can try downloading the VLC Video Player. It's a free open source player and a couple other students who were having trouble playing my videos on 64-bit WMP said it fixed the problem for them. Here's a link:

   http://www.videolan.org/vlc

You should be able to play the videos right out of your Documents/599CD folder - and sometimes this even makes WMP work because it installs new CODECs. Let me know if that works.

Let me know which, if any, solution fixes the problem for you. I'm anxious to nip this in the bud. Microsoft did something like this previously when Windows Vista came out. None of my software worked and I had to completely rewrite my Video Player. Because of this, I'm seriously considering switching EVERYTHING over to Flash video in the future... but for now, I'm sure one of the above solutions will help fix the problem.

And again, I STRONGLY recommend you try watching the lessons in the online Theater which will fix the problem 99% of the time:

   /Theater

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