Is there a method of viewing Codec/filter information?

[Dizzle07]

Is there a method of viewing all the codecs I have on my computer and fromt there uninstalling everything? I installed the nimo codec pack thinking it would solve all my .ogm woes (it didn't) and now I'm paranoid. I want to delete ALL my codecs and start fresh, only installing what I need. I also plan on reading up more on the codec information so I know what I'm installing and what my best bet is for a certain task.

Any help is greatly appreciated... flames are appreciated even more :p

[communist]

This has worked for me:
http://www.newfreeware.com/audio/249/
There is way to remove them from within windows (Device manager -> Sound Video and Game controllers -> Video Codecs) - but last time I tried it it didn work.

[ultimatebilly]

Just in case you need another tool, try Codec Sniper (http://www.zebulon.fr/telechargements/92.html).
It is normally included in the Tsunami Filter Pack, but since I thought you maybe don't want to install another codec pack at the moment I found the above link...
But don't get too trigger happy!! :D

[Dizzle07]

Thanks for the tools, but it's showing 75 Directshow/video/audio codecs. This is going to be quite the trip, trying to figure out what's what. A few questions:

If I back up everything and start fresh, is it possible to add codecs from the backup and re-register them?

What exactly IS a directshow filter?

What are my best options for playing the most common video/audio types (video: divx 3.11/4.x/5.x, XVID; audio: vorbis, mp3, ac3; file types: ogm, mkv, any others...)?

I could post the list of codecs if that would help.

Since I'm asking for even more help this time around, help is MORE appreciated than last time :p

[bond]

a lot of filters/codecs are installed on windows by default, it doesnt make sense to uninstall all of them

for decoding all mpeg-4 video content (meaning divx4/5, xvid aso) you only need to install 3ivx or ffdshow
a mp3 decoder is installed on windows by default
for ac3 ac3filter
for vorbis corevorbis
for aac coreaac
for matroska gabests matroska splitter
for ogm oggds

for encoding you only need xvid

thats all :D

[DAvenger]

RadLight Filter Manager v1.4 (http://fileforum.betanews.com/download.php?fid=1068572413) should do the trick (you have to be very careful, though)

[Dizzle07]

I know I'm the one asking the question, but I have an answer for other people in my situation:

Zoom Player's Guide (http://www.inmatrix.com/articles/mediasetup.shtml)

Excellent guide as far as I can tell. Thanks for all the help guys/girls. I really appreciate it and I can now watch videos properly. I can't believe I didn't know about ffdshow sooner!

[neofit]

Originally posted by DAvenger
RadLight Filter Manager v1.4 (http://fileforum.betanews.com/download.php?fid=1068572413) should do the trick (you have to be very careful, though)
Ahem... Dangerous tool indeed ;). Yours truly just broke his 'Direct-X interface' (as per Zoomplayer) while trying to uninstall DivX 3.11 alpha ( "quartz.dll unregistered" it said - oooops).

Anyway, Inmatrix have a nice little .bat file to re-register all filters that are supposed to be there at OS installation in case something like that happens, at this page (http://www.inmatrix.com/articles/mediasetup3.shtml) to be more accurate. Seems only quartz.dll was affected anyway, phew. This list of filters alone was worth the ZPPro registration price :).

The aforementioned 'Codec Sniper' removed the three DivX3.11 entries more cleanly.