Home > HowTo > Multimedia > How to play movies on Windows XP and Vista


 

How to play movies on Windows XP and Vista

 

Curious to see what we use to play movies on Windows XP or Vista ? We are going to talk about what programs you need to watch movies on Windows XP or Vista. At the time that this article was written, it should be useful for other Windows users like Windows 2000 that is very similar with Windows XP. I chosed to name this article in this way due to fact that most of the Internet Users are using Windows XP or Vista. Nowadays those are the most popular OS choices but this article could be useful in future because it is based on two programs so let's get started.

 

One of the most common mistake that people make when trying to watch a movie in a popular format is to install as many codecs they can. From my experience I've learned that this is not a smart thing to do and since I've already did it, right now I am writing this article for people that needs some tips. Let's move on, first of all before doing anything else I am asking you to access CONTROL PANEL in your Windows XP or Windows Vista ( or any other windows version ) go to ADD/REMOVE Programs and Uninstall any other installed codecs and Restart Windows if required.

Supposing that you don't have any other codecs installed on your computer, now it's time to download K-Lite Codec Pack - this is the software package that I am using to play movies on Windows and it works for both XP and Vista. After downloading K-Lite Codec Pack it's time to start the installation process and a new window will appear like in this picture :

 

First window when trying to install K-Lite Codec Pack

 

 

Press the "Next" button to continue with the installation, now you are going to see a similar window with the one from this picture, again press "Next" button :

 

You can read this installation notice before continuing with the installation

 

It's now time to select the installation folder for this program. If you want to select other location you can click on "Browse" and choose other destination for this installation. If not, this program will be installed by default in a normal location "C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack" ( I am leaving it this way ) and again press the "Next" button.

 

Select where to install K-Lite Codec Pack on your computer. The default location is the one from this picture otherwise you may choose any other location on your harddrive if you don't have enough space or for any other reason. I usually leave it in this location.

 

Now, on this window you are going to be asked on what components to install and you can choose from a couple of profiles. If you know what you're doing you can change to other profile or choose to customize your own components but I would recommend to leave it as they are, there is no need to change something for most of us, leave it like in this picture :

 

You can customize your own settings for K-Lite Codec Pack but I would recommend you to leave it as they are - by default.

 

Again, hit the "Next" button and you should see a new window like in the picture below :

 

You can hit the Back button if you want to change anything, otherwise select where to place shortcuts on your computer.

 

A new window will appear, press the "Next" button to continue the installation :

 

Select additional tasks for K-Lite Codec Pack

 

If everything went well you should now see the last window from the installation process, you have finished the configuration for K-Lite Codec Pack and the program is now ready to be installed on your computer - if you agree and ready press the "Install" button :

 

K-Lite Codec Pack is now ready to be installed on your computer. If you are ready, press the Install button

 

Depending on your computer speed, but usually in a couple of seconds you should see the last window that confirms that K-Lite Codec Pack has been successfully installed on your computer. There is no need to configure any video or audio decoders, just click on "Finish" button and the setup window will close.

 

Installation of K-Lite Codec Pack has finished. You can now choose the Finish button and the setup window will close

 

Congratulations, you have installed K-Lite Codec Pack on your computer and now you should be able to play movies on your Windows using your favourite media player. If you noticed, we have choosed "Profile 1: Default" and this is a basic installation that will install automatically Media Player Classic on your computer. This is one of the best choices when you need a good media player for Windows. However, be aware that not all media players works fine with K-Lite Codec Pack and we do have another free, multimedia player recommendation. We are using GOM Media Player, it is small, extremely functional and it works excellent with K-Lite Codec Pack. You can download GOM Media Player, install it and play your movies, keep in mind that in this combination you will be able to play 99 % of all movies downloaded from the Internet.