Maybe you don't have the right codecs. Get GSpot (a free program) that will identify the codec that you might need Get GSpot.. it's free and it will tell you what you need to play a certain file.. just open the file in GSpot and it will tell you. Either that or you're trying to play PAL format when you're only set up to play ntsc. http://www.headbands.com/gspot/