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Resolved Question

Can these programs cause codec issues? Need help!

Jun 24, 2012 12:52PM PDT

Hello Everyone!

I had the most frustrating, exhaustive, couple of weeks, and several hours a day, trying to identify issues involving Windows Media Player 12 and Windows games that came with my computer. As the last resort, I did do a reinstall of my computer, but I am afraid to reinstall the program or programs that may have caused the issues in the first place: Format Factory, Any Video Converter, or You Tube Downloader, Webex, FFDShow, or another program. Or maybe my Asus K73E-BBR7 w/Windows 7 64-bit, i3, with 4.00 GB, isn't compatible with these programs, or vice versa. (I'm no computer expert!)

I would appreciate it if someone could read the following and tell me what could be the problem, or if the program(s) could have been the culprit. Also, I'd like to know if I need to install a codec program, if so which one. Any help will be appreciated. I'm sorry that this is so long:

February 2012
I have an Asus K73E-BBR7 notebook with Windows 7/64-bit, and Intel i3 and 4.00 GB, purchased on February 10, 2012.

April 2012
In April, I installed Any Video Converter to catch and convert Youtube videos to play on my computer (saved as PAL (I think that's right, I don't have the program or files on my notebook anymore.) Everything worked fine and I was able to play them on Windows Media Player. The only other programs to be installed were Kaspersky Antivirus, Adobe Reader, SuperAntispyware and Maywarebytes, Microsoft Office 2003 and Preyproject security. Everything worked just fine, and I was starting to enjoy working on my newsletters and recipes and learning the video conversion process.

Late April Early May 2012
My church wanted me to help create signs for their LED sign, as a volunteer, which involved the installation of Visions Play 4.60A software by a sign company, but the software actually manufactured by another company. I studiously went through the tutorials and was successfully able to create signs, until I decided to try and use their AVI animations to create movie clips for the church sign. The process is: Open Visions Play, select Tools, Convert to FLW; open file to be converted, select directory to store sign in, enter sign size and start. (You can also click on Show Image/Edit Message.) I clicked on start and the following appeared: "NO MCI DEVICE OPEN." When I tried to click on close, I could not close the program or get rid of the error message - without performing CTL ALT DEL.

I called the company to report the issue and find a solution, and also to ask how to convert FLV clips properly, since it was not detailed in the company's online tutorials, which I studied thoroughly, and followed to a tee.

The company remotely installed WEBEX and FFDShow, and suggested that I also use You Tube Downloader and Format Factory to create signs from clips off of You Tube (convert from FLV to MP4, (YTD) then to AVI (Format Factory) then AVI to FLW in Visions Play. Software. I tried YTD/FF to convert video clips, but decided to save steps by converting solely with Any Video Converter. All the conversions (both the Visions Play animations and You Tube) were performed almost effortlessly....until...

Late May Early June
I decided to convert a batch of AVI files in Visions Play that were stored under Transportation and Education in the software. Suddenly, the "NO MCI DEVICE FOUND" appeared. I called the company. They told me to convert the AVI's in their directory to AVI's again, then into FLW's. That worked, but shortly after, my computer experienced the following problems.

June 12, 2012
Error Messages when trying to play Windows games: "NO SUITABLE GRAPHICS DEVICES FOUND"
Error Messages when trying to use Windows Media Programs, such as Media Player, Media Center: "ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMS WHILE PLAYING THE FILE," "FILES NEEDED TO DISPLAY THE VIDEO ARE NOT INSTALLED OR WORKING CORRECTLY or "CANNOT PLAY DVD VIDEO...MAY NEED TO ADJUST DISPLAY SETTINGS." Also, when I did try Windows Media Player, the video would appear as a snapshot, and only the sound would play.
Asus Vibe Fun Center (games and music channels on desktop) stopped working.. When I clicked on the icon, it just blinked, causing my Power Plan and Kaspersky side icons to disappear. I had to perform CTL ALT DEL to restore the two icons and shut down Asus Vibe Fun Center. Asus instructed me to delete the Asus Vibe software and reinstall it from their site, which I did. I tried the program again, which caused the same problem, but this time CTL ALT DEL didn't work. The screen froze and I couldn't end the application. The screen then turned black forcing me to shut the computer down with the power button. (I restarted in normal mode, but had to restart it again to restore all functionality, since starting sound was garbled.
I tried to do a computer rating under Windows Experience Index, which could not complete because it "Could Not Measure Playback Performance."

Troubleshooting methods that didn't work
Tried unchecking and rechecking Windows game items under programs, but it didn't help, as per online suggestions
Ran antivirus, antimalware program, Superantispyware scan, Microsoft Security Scan, but they found nothing. Superantispyware just found cookies.
Tried system restore, but it didn't help....maybe because the restore date was already into June. (No May dates were available.)
Displays and Graphics were supposedly updated, according to Asus, who had me check.
Windows updates were also current.
A tech at my church said to do a restore or system reinstall. He searched around, but he and his buddies are stumped. (That seems to be the consensus with everyone I talked to.)
I tried five Microsoft Fix-it troubleshooters, which found some problems, but said it fixed them. The hardware one thought something was wrong, but couldn't pinpoint it.
Some fix-it program links and message boards said it could be a codec issue. I remember hearing this term when I researched Any Video Converter and Format Factory.
I called the Visions Play/sign company. One "gentleman" said that it couldn't be his program because he's never had any complaints, the software is known nationwide, and that I may have done something to the computer or caused a virus that he doesn't know about, and directed me to the software company. The software tech said he's never heard of the issues I am experiencing in relation to their software.
I brought it to Best Buy, since it's still under manufacture's warranty and told the tech that Asus thought that the Asus Vibe problem was a hardware/hard drive issue, and instructed me to bring it to them.
Best Buy ran troubleshooting for over a half hour, but could not find any major issues, especially ones related to the error messages, which he's never heard before. (He went in the back room of the store for awhile to research something.) The laptop was virtually clean, without any viruses or major issues.
When he came back, he said that it is most likely a software issue and that the software changed my codec. He wasn't sure which one, but said that Visions Play could be the one causing the issues. The best he could do was tell me to do a system reinstall, and that it could be a codec issue. Also to begin by installing the programs on my computer one by one to see if the problem reoccurs to identify the software.

Any help or insights you can give me will be appreciated. I don't want to go through all the issues I did within the past two weeks, if I can help it. I would like to let everyone know that I have no ill-will against any companies or programs that I have mentioned. I just want to solve the problem, which could just be a fluke or glitch, or easily solved.

I'm just a church volunteer who would like to also use my laptop for personal use, and learn new programs for fun... nothing illegal, malicious or sneaky going on here!

Discussion is locked

Scoobyfan has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Sorry bu I can't dig out the question and details.
Jun 26, 2012 3:30AM PDT

But I'd like to share that I rarely use WMP (any version) because of CODEC hell. Instead I use VLC PLAYER to sidestep that issue.

If you feel like this is a bug, look at who created the issue.
Bob

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Sorry it was so long...What do you think about...
Jun 26, 2012 8:30AM PDT

Hi Bob,

I'm sorry I didn't condense the questions, which should have been: "Could any of the following programs have caused issues with my computer, codec or otherwise?" (The programs being Format Factory, Any Video Converter, or You Tube Downloader, Webex, FFDShow, or another program, like the Visions Play software.)"

Do you have any idea as to how the Windows games became "corrupted" Do they operate with a codec? And once one Windows program, such as Windows Media Player became "corrupted" so did the other Windows programs?

Thanks for responding!

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Ok, question 1 and 2.
Jun 27, 2012 1:26AM PDT

1. Yes. But I've learned you can't tell which caused it. I uninstall them all and tackle the problem head on. That is I'll use MEDIA INFO (see google) to figure out exactly what is needed.

HOWEVER I rarely do this because VLC Player with all it's built in decoding does not rely on external CODECs and the hell it creates.

2. Yes. I've seen this but you answered your own question by supplying all those apps and more you installed. Other apps such as games can indeed rely on CODECs. So yes, it can be broken.

RECOVERY from such is never a simple thing. On really messy systems we'll reload the OS and give them a fresh start. We rarely get to dive in and explore how to fix it since the hourly charges could exceed that of a new PC.
Bob

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Thanks for replying again.
Jun 27, 2012 4:45AM PDT

Thanks for the confirmation and explanation. I'm sure the diagnostic expenses can really run up. I'd be rich if I paid myself for all the hours of research and trouble this codec issue caused!

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One more question
Jun 27, 2012 4:50AM PDT

Do you have a preference as to which video converter program to use? AVC or Format Factory/You Tube Downloader?

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I don't use any of those.
Jun 27, 2012 5:03AM PDT
http://download.cnet.com/FormatFactory/3000-2194_4-10968547.html is notable because of it's standing at download.com. I also like the fact they don't use multiple threads because for your Average Joe/Jane this sidesteps a thorny issue of CODECs that crash when more than one thread uses them.

Remember I rarely have to convert formats as VLC Player deals with them all.

So when I convert I use 3 titles because that's what I use.

1. Handbrake.
2. Super (yes, hard to find!)
3. Virtual Dub (hard on users but can do some amazing things. NOT FOR NEWBIES.)

Bob