Please excuse if I'm being a bit 'dull' but i can't seem to launch any movies that I'm downloading. Quicktime doesnt seem to be able to open AVI or MPEG files. I have downloaded the VLC player but don't seem to be getting any joy with that either. Any tips or suggestions please??

Quicktime should DEFINETELY be able to open mpeg files. If you have OS X (which you should if you're posting in this forum) make sure the quicktime you have is up to date.

For opening avis, I believe you need the DivX codec, which can be found at divx.com

Nope, QuickTime can't open MPEG-2 files. Therefor you must buy an extra component.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/mpeg2playback/

So if I upgrade to Quicktime 6 I will be able to launch Mpeg and Avi files that I have downloaded from the site??

Maybe. There are many different codecs. Try one of these two free players (VLC and mPlayer) Both are pretty good at opening any video that can be seen on OSX. Video has been competing for years to corner the market on THE compression scheme. Anyway--here are the links:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...group_id=62947

How do I actually try to view these movies using mPlayer or VLC player which I have now downloaded? When I press launch Quicktime loads up everytime?

Ah there are three (and more) ways. Don't use the Launch button--1) use the player's own "File->Open" command.
2) Drag-and-Drop: Use LW's Explore button to find the files on your hard drive for their location (Probably in Home->Shared). You can drag them from there onto the player's icon in the dock or Applications folder.
3)With Get Info: to set them to open in the player of your choice, find the file on the hard drive, click once to select it, then use the Finder's File->Get Info command--cmd-I--to call up the Get Info box. There you'll see the options to "Open With", where you are asked to choose/add the player you want . You can also make that player the Default for all similar files.

Setting defaults via Get Info is the best long term solution. This is what determines LW's Launch button setting.

Hope that helps--learning filesharing AND a new computer can be confusing. Luckily both OSX and LW make it pretty easy.

Are there actually movies you can watch on this thing?

i have had problems as well but i have also found solutions. s.times asf files play in quicktime and sometimes in vlc, s.times mpg do the same, if they don't work in one, try another. avi files i have had different successes with, but they never run in quicktime. windows media player and realplayer have both been totally useless. i just saw the mplayer link above and will get that one going and give the unplayable files a go. this is for the simpsons, so it is of utmost importance to me!!

How do you play AVI files? I am having serious difficultys with the AVI files. Video LAN doesnt work on AVI.