problems opening with wmp (mpeg+avi)
 

I can't play the files I downloaded,one is 330MB mpg and the other is avi of the same show. My WMP says it supports these formats.
What I get is a color test pattern instead of the desired material and with the second file I get a dark screen that shows that it is "playing" for 13 seconds and then stops.
Do I need some sort of codec or could these be corrupted files?
The last time I downloaded free codecs I had so many spyware etc issues I had to spend hours fixing it.
Win.XP home p4 1.8 388 RAM WMP10 all updates. Limewire pro recent download. Thanks a lot ! Joe-absolute newbie-pls cut me some slack here!

Try the XP codec pack here
Codecs & VLC

There's also a link to VLC player which has built in codecs:)
If your WMP still won't play 'em & VLC won't play 'em then they're probably crap files. You can check a file before download with Bitzi

(I've downloaded the XP pack & no probs with nasties;))

problems opening with wmp (mpeg+avi)
 

Thanks Birdy. I downloaded the codecs and the player you advized and none of the 6 files would play.I read further here and found and used the bitzky (sp) utility and found that others had determined that the files were fraudulent!!! So I don't have to tear the rest of my hair out.Real nice forum here! ;) Thanks-cougar