Vista Ultimate will not play MPG video in WMP11

[Kent Meyer]

I am trying to play .MPG video files that were created by my JVC Everio
digital camcorder. The files come off the camera as .MOD files and if I
rename them to .MPG I can play these files using other players (such as
WinAMP) just fine but they will not play in WMP11. I have also tried .MPG
videos that were created on my dad's Sony DCR-SR300 digital camcorder and I
get the exact same results.

The error message I get in Media Player says: "Windows Media Player
encountered a problem while playing the file. For additional assistance,
click Web Help." The web help does not help any.

I have made sure my video drivers are the latest version and are made for
Vista (NVidia 6800). It appears that WMP does recognize the file somewhat
because it does display how long the file is (3 minutes, 2 minutes, etc..).
It just won't play them. No sound, no video.

My dad still has XP and WMP10 and these files (from both cameras) will play
just fine.

Does any one have any ideas how to fix this?

Thank you!

[mikeyhsd]

take a look at VLC, it plays music and videos.
less intrusive then WMP.

[Kent Meyer]

Thanks but I am trying to make sure that these videos will play on any machine without the need to download additional players, etc. I want to share these videos with family and friends so I don't want them to have to fight to get things working. Also, WMP is just so convenient to use.

[mikeyhsd]

there was an update to vista codec package mentioned recently.
might search microsoft for codec. or google for vista codes
did not keep the address for it.

[zachd [MSFT]]

I would recommend strongly against the Vista Codec Pack ( as always, this is
my personal opinion). If you do a simple package analysis, you'll see
they're putting common/3rd party files in private locations, which is going
to be hellish to maintain over time and would presumably be able to cause
conflicts and issues even now, let alone a year from now. =\

[zachd [MSFT]]

Under WMP11's Help:About:Technical Support Information , what MPEG/MPEG2
decoders does it say you have installed?

If you keep them as .MOD do they work in WMP? They should...