Tool for changing preferred DirectShow filters in Windows 7

[-Hitman-]

Could anyone, with access to MSDN Windows 7 images, test if these kind of problems are also present on the Windows 7 N version (the one with WMP and related filters removed)?

The codecs have been improved somewhat but unfortuantely ARE still problematic especially with multimonitor setup's and still require using third party codecs to work properly.

[Leak]

Could anyone, with access to MSDN Windows 7 images, test if these kind of problems are also present on the Windows 7 N version (the one with WMP and related filters removed)?
Considering that there's no Windows 7 N releases up at the MSDN subscriber downloads (I just checked) that's probably gonna take a while...

np: RJD2 - Someone's Second Kiss (Since We Last Spoke)

[KoD]

St Devious, I'm speaking about the "N" edition. It's the special edition without WMP for the EU states.

Leak, that's unfortunate. I hoped that on August the 6th, images for N edition would also be available on MSDN. It would be nice if this edition would not have the issues the regular editions have with their built-in decoders.

[BetaBoy]

/me dislikes waiting like this.

[lol_123]

clsid, i dont understand the reason why to give up MS DS filters, did you see any problems with ms default filters?

[BetaBoy]

clsid, i dont understand the reason why to give up MS DS filters, did you see any problems with ms default filters?

Read D9 you will see many comments on the Media Foundation filters and what they don't do or are broken on.

[lol_123]

Read D9 you will see many comments on the Media Foundation filters and what they don't do or are broken on.

:thanks:What is D9? where is that?

[kikistan]

no i'm using shark7 codec pack
work (almost - some tuning has to be done) flawlessly

[SeeMoreDigital]

:thanks:What is D9? where is that?D9 = Doom9, ie: this forum!

no i'm using shark7 codec pack
work (almost - some tuning has to be done) flawlesslyI don't think you'll find anybody in this thread supporting "codec packs", when you could have installed FFDshow...

[clsid]

There are several cases where the MS filters fail miserably. I have seen lots of people that were able to solve their playback problems with my tool. Even that Shark idiot is trying to replicate its functionality.

[lol_123]

There are several cases where the MS filters fail miserably. I have seen lots of people that were able to solve their playback problems with my tool. Even that Shark idiot is trying to replicate its functionality.

Clsid, let me make it clear. i saw you and other MPC-HC coders
had put all ffdshow codecs into MPC-HC.
is it a true that i dont need the tool as long as i am using MPC-HC in Win7?

[Shark007]

Even that Shark idiot is trying to replicate its functionality.

I may be an idiot in your shallow view of what peoples needs are when it comes to a bundle of filters to install but at least I'm not the INSANE PERSON behind the K-lite fiasco that has caused more formatted partitions than any other blunder known to the 8086 architechture.

I have replicated nothing. I have looked at your tool and it falls short in many instances.
It leaves the registry open to hackers by unlocking keys and leaving them in that state.

My users demand more. They need the security and peace of mind that Microsoft intended for thier systems. My implementation of filter swapping goes way beyond the functionality of your simple hackjob. My users are able to re-lock the keys and return ownership to the TrustedInstaller either by a system Administrator who adjusted the settings in the 1st place or by simply uninstalling my software.

You probably should consider replicating the functionality my software offers (like K-lite does).
I'll look forward to it in some future release of yours.

[clsid]

is it a true that i dont need the tool as long as i am using MPC-HC in Win7?
MPC uses its own filter manager. It completely ignores the preferred filter settings in Windows 7 and behaves the same as on XP/Vista. The tool is only required for players that use the standard filter manager of DirectShow.

I may be an idiot in your shallow view of what peoples needs are when it comes to a bundle of filters to install but at least I'm not the INSANE PERSON behind the K-lite fiasco that has caused more formatted partitions than any other blunder known to the 8086 architechture.

I have replicated nothing. I have looked at your tool and it falls short in many instances.
It leaves the registry open to hackers by unlocking keys and leaving them in that state.

My users demand more. They need the security and peace of mind that Microsoft intended for thier systems. My implementation of filter swapping goes way beyond the functionality of your simple hackjob. My users are able to re-lock the keys and return ownership to the TrustedInstaller either by a system Administrator who adjusted the settings in the 1st place or by simply uninstalling my software.

You probably should consider replicating the functionality my software offers (like K-lite does).
I'll look forward to it in some future release of yours.
Haha, you make me laugh.

You are just making up things to promote your own stuff. The K-Lite pack works perfectly fine and you damn well know it. It actually fixes stuff, instead of breaking anything.

With regards to my preferred filter tweak tool, it offers the functionality that people have requested here. Additional functionality can and will get added when I have time to further develop it. Restoring the original access permissions to TrustedInstaller is easy to do. Claiming that not doing so is a security vulnerability is nonsense. Any malware running with the Administrative privileges that are needed to modify the key could otherwise also change the permissions on its own.

Plans for future versions include:
- Support for more audio formats.
- Command line switch for resetting to defaults.
- GUI button for quickly resetting to defaults.

[wjwuk]

Hi,


I'm running Win7 and using WMC to record TV. The only real problem is the picture quality so I've been trying to find out how to change the codecs and renderer and after much searching found this thread (and then waited patiently for the quarantine period to pass).

I've downloaded the tool and tried to use it but it's not showing the Cyberlink decoders I have and would like to use. I used Vista and MediaPortal before and got absolutely excellent pictures from HDTV (with DXVA support) using these codecs and EVR.

I have to assume that my codecs are different to those Cyberlink ones that the tool knows about. Any chance that it can be enhanced to include these please? Details are:

cl264dec.ax - {4541C519-48A6-4B92-8053-AFEE27D5D069}

and

PCMR264Dec.ax - {1B52B40B-2CDC-4E1F-9133-9243E21FC620}

Second, what about renderers? My system always seems to default to using VMR9, not EVR. Any ideas why? I thought EVR was called "enhanced" because it would give better results and therefore assumed that Win7 would use this. Is this too naive?

I know you've said "codecs only" but as they are also Directshow is there any chance that control over renderers could be included in this tool? And is there advice on which renderer is "the best"?

Finally, as far as the N (do you mean E?) version is concerned, although this may not have WMP natively (although actually I think it's only IE that's missing in the E - for Europe - version), it will still have WMC and therefore may be subject to the same problems with forced use of the MS codecs.

[clsid]

The settings that this tool tweaks only apply to decoders. It can't control source filters and renderers.

I am not sure if it is normal that EVR is not used. It could indicate some kind of graphics driver problem.

Adding those filters is no problem. But I would like some additional information about them. What Cyberlink product do they belong to? What is the difference between the two filters?

[Keiyakusha]

wjwuk
AFAIK you don't need this tool for setting default renderers. I just increased EVR's merit to preferred+2 and it's default now. The purpose of this tool is change default filters when merits doesn't works because of Microsoft's restrictions. Anyway i think every normal player should be able to choose any supported renderer without any system changes on users side.

[wjwuk]

CLSID,

Thanks. They both come from PowerCinema (which came with the Hauppage Tuner card I bought). What the difference is I really can't tell. There were occasions when I was using MediaPortal that only one of them would work on a recording and the other one wouldn't - but I have absolutely no idea why.

Keiyakusha,

Thanks also. I'll try that later on today.

[clsid]

I hope you do realize that only 1 filter can be set as preferred for H.264. So if those two filters each only work properly on half of your files, you would need to frequently switch filters to play your recordings. Have you tried other filters, such as the free DivX H.264 decoder, to see if those work on all your files?

[wjwuk]

clsid,

Yes, I do realise. I heavily simplified the problems I was having as this is not a MediaPortal forum.

Now that I've switched to Win7 and WMC (couldn't do that before since this is the first time that MS have given us satellite and HDTV support in Europe) I have no problems with stability. It's just that the picture is very poor when compared with what I was getting from MediaPortal and the Cyberlink decoders. Once I find which decoder gives the best results I can stick with it. I have extensively tried all the other options (attempted every option in the nVidia control panel, changed black levels, adjusted all options on the TV, etc) but cannot get a picture out of WMC that is anywhere near as good as before. Hence the desire to try the Cyberlink decoders in WMC.

[Joniii]

clsid,

Yes, I do realise. I heavily simplified the problems I was having as this is not a MediaPortal forum.

Now that I've switched to Win7 and WMC (couldn't do that before since this is the first time that MS have given us satellite and HDTV support in Europe) I have no problems with stability. It's just that the picture is very poor when compared with what I was getting from MediaPortal and the Cyberlink decoders. Once I find which decoder gives the best results I can stick with it. I have extensively tried all the other options (attempted every option in the nVidia control panel, changed black levels, adjusted all options on the TV, etc) but cannot get a picture out of WMC that is anywhere near as good as before. Hence the desire to try the Cyberlink decoders in WMC.

Media Center MPEG-2/H.264 Decoder is controlled by this key in XP/Vista/7:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder]
"PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID"="{E1F1A0B8-BEEE-490D-BA7C-066C40B5E2B9}"
"PreferredMPEG2VideoDecoderCLSID"="{212690FB-83E5-4526-8FD7-74478B7939CD}"

[wjwuk]

Joniii,
Thanks. I'm away from home for a few days now so will be trying this later this week.

In the meantime, can anyone tell me how to find out if Media Center is actually using the different codecs? If I use Graphstudio while running WMC playing a recorded TV show I can see that a graph exists and can connect to it, but no info. ever appears in the Graphstudio window. I tried saving the graph and then loading that - but still nothing. There's obviously something else that needs doing and I would appreciate help.

[Alexander01]

I have Windows 7 RTM. What do I need to do to use the h.264, xvid, divx, ac3 and dts codecs from ffdshow in Windows Media Player and Media Center? Do I need to delete Media foundation codecs in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MediaFoundation\Transforms and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\MediaFoundation\Transforms and then use clsids tool to change the default Directshow codec from Microsoft to ffdshow? I think there is no other solution yet :(
Microsoft is making more limitations with every new Windows version. I'm getting sick of it. The Media Foundation MP3 codec is also normalizing the volume if the Equalizer in Windows Media Player is used. This was not the case with the directshow mp3 codec in XP. Bah.

If you delete

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MediaFoundation\Transforms\bbeea841-0a63-4f52-a7ab-a9b3a84ed38a
and
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\MediaFoundation\Transforms\bbeea841-0a63-4f52-a7ab-a9b3a84ed38a

It uses the MP3 directshow codec again and there will be no more volume normalizing with mp3 in Windows Media Player if using the Equalizer.

But deleting of the Media Foundation keys is not a good solution. There must be something better to disable Media Foundation codecs so it will fallback to the Directshow codec.

[Alexander01]

Anyone?

[Shark007]

THIS POST (http://www.sevenforums.com/music-pictures-video/16179-win7codecs-11.html#post261327) on the sevenforums may interest you. It links to software that provides the functionality of using FFDshow for standalone MP3's or MP3's within containers such as MKV. This works for WMP or MC and for x64 installations too.

[chaddawkins]

run this to unlock (http://www.mediafire.com/?ofmmmm2am2b) ...DirectShow\Preferred (english)

[ears1991]

Just wondering, would it be possible to create a .bat file to change ffdshow to the default h.264 directshow filter for 32 and 64 bit, rather than running this tool?

[Buitenlander]

Hey guys,
I'd like to know what codec you're using to display subtitles in mkv files played in mpc @ Windows 7 x64/x86. I've tried many codecs like Haali Media Splitter, directvobsub.ax or subtitlesource.ax at this russian standalone filters pack for x86 but none of them are working. Neither do they appear in the quick launch bar while files are played nor in DSFMgr even though they can be registered with regsvr32.
I'd be glad if someone could help me.

[ears1991]

enabling subtitles under ffdshow video options works a treat here on 7 x64

[clsid]

DirectVobSub (vsfilter.dll) works fine as well.

[betaking]

I may be an idiot in your shallow view of what peoples needs are when it comes to a bundle of filters to install but at least I'm not the INSANE PERSON behind the K-lite fiasco that has caused more formatted partitions than any other blunder known to the 8086 architechture.

I have replicated nothing. I have looked at your tool and it falls short in many instances.
It leaves the registry open to hackers by unlocking keys and leaving them in that state.

My users demand more. They need the security and peace of mind that Microsoft intended for thier systems. My implementation of filter swapping goes way beyond the functionality of your simple hackjob. My users are able to re-lock the keys and return ownership to the TrustedInstaller either by a system Administrator who adjusted the settings in the 1st place or by simply uninstalling my software.

You probably should consider replicating the functionality my software offers (like K-lite does).
I'll look forward to it in some future release of yours.

Hi,Shark! I have a question would like to ask you? why you put
DONATORS links on your site? The CODEC PACK where you do most of the components are included in the GNU OR GPL! And You do not contribute any code.and According to the agreement is that they can not be used for commercial purposes on! so I think you should destroy and those who do not abide by the agreement is attached to the software!

[Shark007]

Originally Posted by Shark007
I may be an idiot in your shallow view of what peoples needs are when it comes to a bundle of filters to install but at least I'm not the INSANE PERSON behind the K-lite fiasco that has caused more formatted partitions than any other blunder known to the 8086 architechture.

I have replicated nothing. I have looked at your tool and it falls short in many instances.
It leaves the registry open to hackers by unlocking keys and leaving them in that state.

My users demand more. They need the security and peace of mind that Microsoft intended for thier systems. My implementation of filter swapping goes way beyond the functionality of your simple hackjob. My users are able to re-lock the keys and return ownership to the TrustedInstaller either by a system Administrator who adjusted the settings in the 1st place or by simply uninstalling my software.

You probably should consider replicating the functionality my software offers (like K-lite does).
I'll look forward to it in some future release of yours.


According to the agreement is that they can not be used for commercial purposes on!

OT, but your opinion is noted.

[clsid]

Deliberate fail to quote properly to spread lies one more time?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Well, if CLSID's tool can take the ownership of the "TrustedInstaller" registry keys and modify values in those keys, then an evil hacker could do the same thing anyway :sly:

Question:
Is it possible to change the preferred MP2 audio decoder too? I would like to use ffdshow for decoding MP2 audio in DVBViewer, mainly because of ffdshow's Normalize/ReGain capabilities.
Unfortunately even if I set "MP2 Audio Decoder" to "ffdshow Audio Decoder" in DVBViewer options, it will still use the "Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder" instead :(

System is Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit) and I'm running DVBViewer Pro v4.2.1.0. Under Windows XP (x64 Edition) there was no problem to use ffdshow as audio decoder in DVBViewer.

[clsid]

Here is a test build with MP2/MP3 support:
http://www.zshare.net/download/65401964b3f7a38f/

Please also test with Windows Media Player. MP3 b0rks here with ffdshow in WMP, while it works perfectly in for example GraphStudio. I haven't tried with MP2 yet.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Great! Seems to work as expected for me:

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8224/ffdshowmp2win7.th.png (http://img222.imageshack.us/i/ffdshowmp2win7.png/) http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7238/ffdshowmp2win7wmp.th.png (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/ffdshowmp2win7wmp.png/)

:thanks:

[loekverhees]

Hi all,

I'm trying to play .mov files via FFDShow, but no luck yet. (See: http://forum.videohelp.com/topic372932.html).

Does anyone know how to play the .mov files with FFDShow (without renaming them to .mkv for example)?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

MOV is a container, so what you need is a MOV splitter, not a decoder. That's not related to ffdshow!

Depending on what audio/video formats the streams stored in your MOV file use, ffdshow may or may not be able to decode those streams.

Posting a complete MediaInfo report (text mode!) of your MOV file may help...

[loekverhees]

For the MediaInfo report and more, see the videohelp link ;) .

[LoRd_MuldeR]

So it's AVC/H.264 video and AAC audio stored in a MOV container. All that can be decoded by ffdshow, as long as you enabled H.264 and AAC decoding in ffdshow's options.

However you will still need a MOV splitter! I'd recommend to use MPC-HC (http://www.xvidvideo.ru/content/category/1/1/2/), which has a built-in MOV splitter filter.

But be aware that you must disable MPC-HC's internal H.264/AAC decoders, if you want ffdshow to decode your streams. The internal decoders should work as well though ;)

[loekverhees]

I use MPC-HC already. I disabled MP4/MOV in the 'Source Filters' field and checkmarked 'H264/AVC (FFmpeg)' in the 'Transform Filters' field. Still not playing back via FFDShow.

[clsid]

That is because MPC uses the QuickTime framework by default for .mov files. Change that in the options, or rename your file to for example .hdmov.

[clsid]

Great! Seems to work as expected for me:

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8224/ffdshowmp2win7.th.png (http://img222.imageshack.us/i/ffdshowmp2win7.png/) http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7238/ffdshowmp2win7wmp.th.png (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/ffdshowmp2win7wmp.png/)

:thanks:
One weird thing in your WMP screenshot. There are two audio decoders listed. I had the same problem with MP3, and in that case the audio got b0rked.

[loekverhees]

That is because MPC uses the QuickTime framework by default for .mov files. Change that in the options, or rename your file to for example .hdmov.
How/where should I change that in the options? I rather don't want to rename all the files.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

One weird thing in your WMP screenshot. There are two audio decoders listed. I had the same problem with MP3, and in that case the audio got b0rked.

The sound was alright here though. I will have a look at the graph...

That is because MPC uses the QuickTime framework by default for .mov files. Change that in the options

loekverhees, In "Options" under "Formats" you must set "QuickTime file" to "DirectShow", then it should work.

[loekverhees]

Yeah, that did the trick finally! Thanks.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Sorry, for some reason I cannot connect to the graph. Neither in GraphEdit nor in GraphStudio. Is that normal ???

Anyway, something makes me suspicious that ffdshow is actually used as decoder:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9089/ffdshowmp2win7wmp2.th.png (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/ffdshowmp2win7wmp2.png/)

Not that I would care about WMP. The interface of WMP12 is even more horrible than it's predecessors. Took me ~3 minutes to find where I can open a simple file :D

(It's "Organize" -> "Layout" -> "Show Menubar" that will show the menubar, which finally gives access to the "File" -> "Open" command. Who the heck did design that ???)

[hoborg]

run this to unlock (http://www.mediafire.com/?ofmmmm2am2b) ...DirectShow\Preferred (english)

Can i ask if this working on x64 ([HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]) too?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Took me ~3 minutes to find where I can open a simple file :D

(It's "Organize" -> "Layout" -> "Show Menubar" that will show the menubar, which finally gives access to the "File" -> "Open" command. Who the heck did design that ???)Well, you got further than I did. I can't even find "Organize"! Where is it?

EDIT: I've just found it over in the "Library" part of Windows Media Player....

[Zillion_]

Hi all,

first of all: big thx to CLSID for all the great stuff he makes for all of us.

I've written a "Codec configuration bible" for Windows 7 Media Center. I'm using your Tweaker as one of the steps in the config process, though there's one problem it doesn't fully resolve, re. the Preferred registry key. Anyway, please read:
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/78749.aspx= (http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/78749.aspx).
I've solve the problems with MP3 Audio (FFDSHOW Output tab: "directshow only" :) ).

[clsid]

You have written some unneeded steps:
1) The tool already takes care of (temporarily) changing the ownership and access rights of the registry key.
2) Default settings can be restored by simply setting everything back to "Microsoft". A backup of the key is thus not really needed. A "reset to default" button will be implemented in the near future to quickly reset things.

Also, I don't understand what you mean with "bad keys". Please elaborate about what is wrong. Those values are only changed when a user selects the related option.

Also what is the error you mentioned on x86?