Uninstalling codecs

[rjc7394]

I have hundreds of codecs and I think something is interfering with wmv playback because it's choppy in Realplayer (mpg and avi isn't choppy in Realplayer). I also have VLC Player installed. I don't know how to uninstall individual codecs. They are not listed in Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs. I haven't used any codec packs. I have GSPOT and RadLight Filter Manager v1.3 which shows all the codecs.

[Dark Shikari]

Your first problem is that you're using Realplayer.

[rjc7394]

I like it because the GUI isn't cluttered and it's easy to use. Realplayer doesn't install any of its own codecs.

[Shinigami-Sama]

realplayer is outdated as all hell

MPC(HC) are much better choices

if you really want to get rid of all the codecs and filters just reinstall, its the best way to regain performance and the only way to be sure everything is configured the way it should be with merits, versions etc...

[clsid]

RealPlayer installs a shitload of decoders. Just not any that can be used by other programs.

Have you tried playing those WMV files in another player? If they play correctly in WMP or MPC then the "codecs" are not to blame.

[rjc7394]

I haven't seen any definitive media players except for maybe VLC.
My WMVs do the same thing in WMP. Do you have to manually uninstall/delete codecs if there are no associated uninstall options in Control Panel or Start Menu?

[Shinigami-Sama]

I haven't seen any definitive media players except for maybe VLC.
My WMVs do the same thing in WMP. Do you have to manually uninstall/delete codecs if there are no associated uninstall options in Control Panel or Start Menu?

then they're broken

also
you're missing the point, most 'codecs' are Directshow filters, meaning you need to use a utility and/or their installer to uninstall them, even then theres a 99% chance that won't work properly due to many companies not playing by the rules

[clsid]

Simply re-installing WMP (or just the WMF runtimes) often solves Windows Media playback problems.

If you open a WMV file in GraphEdit or GSpot and perform a test render then you can see exactly which filters get used to play the file. They should all be from Microsoft. If not, you have found the one(s) you should remove.

[blizard]

Source (http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/articles/12013.aspx)

Registering A Filter

1. Locate the .AX file in question. Most of the time these are stored in C:\Windows\System32 or in C:\Program Files\\.
2. Goto Start>>Run>>Type regsvr32.exe "C:\Location\of the\ax file\filter.ax“ - Then Hit Enter
3. It should say it succeeded, if not you likely name to change the path so it is correct.

When running regsvr32.exe, put the path to the find in quotes (ex. "C:/Program Files/Nero/Filter.ax") or you must use the old DOS 8 letter file naming or put the full path in quotes. So C:\Program Files = C:\Progra~1 (Note: Progra~1 is 6 letters/numbers long, followed by ~1 to make 8 total.)

Un-Registering A Filter

1. Locate the .AX file in question. Most of the time these are stored in C:\Windows\System32 or in C:\Program Files\\.
2. Goto Start>>Run>>Type regsvr32.exe "C:\Location\of the\ax file\filter.ax“ - Then Hit Enter
3. It should say it succeeded, if not you likely name to change the path so it is correct.


This is the manual process of register and un register a filter or codec. You need to know that this can be different for win xp x64 based system for some filter can be stored in a places. One which is for pure 64 bit codec/filter (%windir%/sysWOW64) and one for 32 bit (%windir%/system32). It is more likely you will only deal with 32 bit as it is less common to have 64 bit player as that would need a filter chain that is 64 bit from player to renderer.

Unregister will only make windows registry to free up its internal connection between those filter. It will not delete anything, so if you want to remove them then you have to do it your self after you have unregistered them.

Some codec are basic for windows system (=will almost certain be installed) and WMV belong to one of those that Windows Media Player will be paired with. MPEG1 video and MPEG1 audio (mp3 Frauenhof decoder), AVI splitter is another of those filter that any windows XP system have from scratch as a clean install.

VLC should be able to decode WMV and the rest without problem. Go to player section or pick one of those codec packages (minimal install is possible of MPC and FFDSHOW + splitter and renderer + what else you need). K-Lite Lite Codec Package contains a tool called Codec Tweak Tool. It is a rather useful tool to both get an overview and to change what filter that are installed or enabled. You can also create back up of your setting in player, FFDSHOW and other filter in one go, instead of doing it for each by hand. I don't know how CCCP (another codec package work) work or if it have any tool like this.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm)

Read instruction the first time as you don't need to install everything in that package. Install only MPC+FFDSHOW+Haali filter+renderer+Codec Tweak Tool+Real Alternative! That should be enough to start with and you will see that almost everything can be played with this package. I only recommend this because I know how this package work and it will let you create back up of your setting for both FFDSHOW, MPC, Real Alternative and Haali with that tool.

Use search on doom9 for FFDSHOW tryout, Media Player Classic and Haali splitter and renderer (or look for Matroska + Haali), if you want to know more about those. Advantage with K-Lite codec tool is that it will save you some time and it is pretty easy to handle and you will not need to go through each setting by hand as you only store to a folder a collection of setting which you can re-install or active via Codec Tweak Tool or just double file with .reg (extension for windows registry setting) to get back your old setting.

If you find this too complicated to use, then I recommend you to take a look at SMPlayer as it is build around MPlayer as core player and SMPlayer is the GUI which feed instruction to MPlayer (command line based). It is a near "relative" to VLC in many way as both are developed to be "portable" between OS and hardware driver is of a more general type then you would find for directshow based player. (You can make use of directshow driver for both sound and video in SMPlayer, but you will need to change to win32 driver for pass through of AC-3 or DTS as dsound doesn't handle pass through correct. Same problem can be found in VLC.)

SMPlayer (http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/)

The end of the story is that you will not need RealPlayer to play any media content and streaming real media is possible with Real Alternative in browser. (That is why you need to close web browser when you install or uninstall this package.)

[foxyshadis]

Blizard, you forgot the -u for unregistering:

2. Goto Start>>Run>>Type regsvr32.exe -u "C:\Location\of the\ax file\filter.ax“ - Then Hit Enter

[clsid]

And on Vista you should start a command prompt with Administrator privileges. Otherwise regsvr32 might fail.