Support

Below on this page you can find answers to frequently asked questions and solutions to many common problems.

If you need more help, please visit the forum.

The FAQ has not been updated in a long time, so some topics may be outdated. Ask on the forum if you are unable to solve your problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

• What are codecs?

Installation

• Do I need to uninstall my old version first?
• At the beginning of the installation I am asked if I want to uninstall a program X. Is that required?
• Is it possible to do a silent or unattended install?
• Is it possible to uninstall only a couple components of the K-Lite Codec Pack and keep the rest?
• Is there an uninstaller included?
• "Error writing to registry key"
• What is the difference between the available AVI splitters?
• Error during uninstall: "unins000.dat does not exist"
• Error during uninstall: "unins000.dat is not recognized by this version of the uninstaller"
• Symantec Norton anti-virus shows a WS.Reputation.1 detection for the installer
• Windows 10 shows error "This app can't run on your PC"
  

Playback issues

• I can't play a certain video file
• I am unable to play any files on Windows Vista even though I have all the proper codecs installed
• I am not able to play AVI files
• I have trouble playing certain MPEG files
• I can't play AVI files anymore after using WinAVI Video Converter
• I can't play .avi files that contain H.264 video
• I can't play .avi files downloaded from video.google.com
• AVI files containing H.264 video play upside down in BS.Player and WMP
• Two audio tracks are being played simultaneously
• The CPU usage is very high during video playback, any tips on how I can lower it?
• The video stutters and does not play smoothly
• The video is not synchronized with the audio
• The video plays very slow and parts are skipped. It is like I am watching a slide show.
• The video stutters a lot when I play it fullscreen
• The audio volume is really low
• The volume of voices is very low compared to the background sounds and other sound effects
• The volume of voices is too loud compared to the other sounds
• Vorbis audio in MP4 container does not play
• MP3 files play too fast in Windows Media Player
• Video plays too fast in Windows Media Player
• How can I play AVI files from Blizzard Games?
• How can I make 6 channel Windows Media audio play properly on stereo speakers?
• Seeking within an AVI file has a delay of a few seconds in Winamp
• When using Vista Media Center the video freezes for a few seconds every few minutes
• I can't play WMV files.
• I can't open AVI files with WMV3 video in editing applications such as VirtualDub
• I get some message about acquiring a license when I play certain media files
• I am having trouble playing .mkv files that contain "720p" or "1080p" or "x264" in their filename
• I am unable to play .vob files in Windows Media Player
• Audio stutters on Windows Vista
• There is a long loading delay when you open an .mkv file
• How do I play M2TS files that have been ripped from a Bluray disc?
• AVI files with Xvid or DivX video stutter in Windows Media Player or Media Center on Windows 7
• MP4 files play without video in Winamp on Windows 7
• .tp files recorded with Hauppauge software are out-of-sync during playback
• How do I play WAV files that contains DTS audio?
• M2TS files that contain VC-1 video play with just a black screen in Windows Media Player on Windows 7
• Some DVD rips created by AXXO give a black screen during playback
• My player freezes during file opening when S/PDIF is enabled in ffdshow
• MKV files with DTS-MA audio give audio stutters/pops/crackles during playback
• I have problems playing RealMedia files
• Seeking in RealMedia files sometimes results in a loss of audio or audio distortion
• Karaoke files on a VCD (.dat) with dual mono MP2 audio play as stereo
• MP4 files that contain video with a variable frame rate play at the wrong speed
• Files with DTS audio give stuttering playback
• I am having SPDIF problems with ffdshow
• Sound only works in one application at a time
• The screen goes black for a few seconds when starting a video
• How do I play .tivo files?

Video display issues

• The video is displayed only in the top half of the screen, upside down, and also doubled.
• The video contains one or more weird lines
• The video plays with the wrong colors
• All colors look completely wrong when playing WMV files
• The video plays with black and white colors in Windows Media Player
• Video playback is too dark on some files
• Video playback is too bright or too dark on almost all files or the colors are all messed up
• I am unable to play video in full screen
• I have troubles displaying RealMedia files on my secondary monitor
• When I play the video full-screen, the screen goes black while the audio continues normally.
• I don't see the video, just a black or white window, but the audio plays ok.
• Some videos files look "washed out" and colors are not vivid
• What are luminance levels?
• How can I correct wrong luminance levels?
• The video looks too bright when DXVA is used
• Some videos give a green screen
• How can I solve tearing?
• There is a vertical red line in the middle of the video
• I only get black video in IrfanView / XnView / Ableton / Sibelius / Picasa / ThumbsPlus

Subtitles

• Subtitles are not displayed in Windows Media Player 12 on Windows 7 / 8 /10
• How do I make the subtitles load and display automatically?
• Embedded subtitles are not displayed
• How can I hide the subtitles?
• How can I configure DirectVobSub to load the subtitles but hide them by default?
• How can I select a different subtitle?
• How can I switch to a different subtitle language in MP4, MKV and OGM files?
• Windows Media Player shows no video when a subtitle file is present
• Is it possible to display the subtitles below the video?
• Subtitles are not displayed in Media Player Classic on Windows 7
• What is the difference between DirectVobSub and the internal subtitle filter of Media Player Classic?
• External subtitles are not loaded when playing .mkv files in WMP11 on Windows Vista
• DVD subtitles are not displayed in Media Player Classic
• Subtitles flicker in Media Player Classic
• Which methods are available for displaying subtitles?
• How can I see if DirectVobSub is being used?
• How do I enable the internal subtitle renderer of Media Player Classic?
• How can I adjust the font, color and size of the subtitles?
• How can I adjust the subtitle delay for the internal subtitle renderer of Media Player Classic Homecinema?
• Is it possible to make the subtitles less blurry when displayed in full screen?
• The subtitle menus in Media Player Classic are greyed out
• The video starts stuttering whenever subtitles are displayed
• Subtitles show weird symbols
• How can I get subtitles when using a video decoder that uses DXVA hardware acceleration?
• Subtitles reset to beginning when seeking
• How do I display two different subtitles at the same time?
• Are WebVTT (.vtt) subtitles supported?

Configuration

• Where can I configure the options of the various components of the K-Lite Codec Pack?
• How can I switch to a different audio track or subtitle language when playing MKV and MP4 files?
• How can I configure my preferred language(s) for audio tracks and subtitles in Haali Media Splitter?
• How can I select the desired audio stream in Media Center?
• Is it possible to prevent ffdshow from being used by certain applications?
• Is it possible to backup my codec settings?
• How can I send the audio to my receiver instead of my PC speakers?
• How can I configure my preferred language(s) for audio tracks and subtitles in LAV Splitter?
• Which keyboard shortcuts are available in madVR?
• How do I enable audio bitstreaming (passthrough) to a receiver?
• Is it possible to bitstream 5.1 AAC audio?

Media Player Classic

• How can I see which codecs and DirectShow filters MPC is using to play the my file?
• No video is displayed when playing a DVD in Media Player Classic
• Media Player Classic freezes for a while when I open the File menu
• "Media Player Classic could not render some of the pins in the graph" errors
• I have installed DC-DSP, but it doesn't seem to work when using Media Player Classic
• An ActiveMovie window appears when opening a DVD with Media Player Classic
• Media Player Classic gives a black screen on the TV-out
• The 'Save Image' and 'Save Thumbnails' functions in Media Player Classic give an error
• Media Player Classic freezes when trying to play a DVD
• Some files that contain unicode characters give a "Failed to render file" error in Media Player Classic
• QuickTime files from the GameTrailers website play very choppy
• Some .mov files play without sound
• How do I exit from the special Direct3D Fullscreen mode in MPC-HC?
• Opening .asx or .wax streams gives a "Failed to render file" error.
• Playback of QuickTime or RealMedia video is very pixelated
• The play button does not work after having pressed the stop button when playing a RealMedia file in Media Player Classic
• Some .rm files cause Media Player Classic to crash
• I can not play .ram files in Media Player Classic. I get a "cannot render the file" error.
• I get a "DVD: Macrovision Failed" or "DVD: Copy-Protect Fail" error when trying to play a DVD
• I get a "Failed to query the needed interfaces for DVD playback" error when trying to play a DVD
• What are shaders?
• Why can't I enable any shaders?
• How do I enable or disable an internal filter in MPC?
• Aero gets disabled and my desktop turns to basic mode when playing a file in MPC
• Files with H.264 video play with just a black screen on my second display
• Some files with H.264 video give a green screen in MPC
• Some files play with green/black/pink video corruption in MPC
• It takes several seconds for MPC to load
• After opening a video in MPC it takes a few seconds before it starts playing
• I get "Error Creating Sync Renderer" when playing a file in MPC
• Sound suddenly stopped working in Media Player Classic, but still works in other players
• MPC freezes/crashes after exiting hibernate (sleep mode)
• Some WMV files play very slowly
• Playback of VC-1 video inside M2TS container stutters or gives wrong framerate
• I get a message saying "Error creating EVR Custom renderer"
• I can't play video files in MPC-HC. The status bar just says "stopped".
• File associations are not working for normal Windows user accounts
• My system has two graphics cards. How do I configure MPC-HC to use the NVIDIA GPU instead of Intel?
• Is it possible to adjust audio pitch when increasing playback speed?
• Is it possible to speed up the video more than 4x?
• The player shows CreateDevice failed Error code 0x8876086A when opening a file
• MPC-HC crashes when screen sharing with Discord

Windows Media player

• How can I play DVDs with Windows Media Player?
• WMV HD videos play slow and without sound in Windows Media Player
• I get the following error message when trying to play a DVD: "Windows Media Player cannot play DVD video. You might need to adjust your Windows display settings. Open display settings in Control Panel, and then try lowering your screen resolution and color quality settings."
• Why are LAV Filters and ffdshow not getting used by WMP and Media Center on Windows 7/8/10?
• Some videos play very pixelated on Windows 7
• I am unable to seek within .ts files with WMP12
• .m2ts files that contain VC-1 video do not play with WMP12
• AVI files that contain AC3 audio give noise in WMP12
• I am unable to seek within files when played from the WMP library
• Windows Media Player cannot play the file. Windows Media Player may not support this file type or does not support the codec that was used to compress the file.
• Missing codec. This item was encoded in a format that's not supported. Error 0xc00d5212

Thumbnails

• How do I completely disable thumbnail generation?
• How do I disable thumbnail generation for a specific file extension?
• Thumbnails are shown for new files, but not for old ones
• How do I clear the thumbnail cache?
• Why do some thumbnails not have a movie reel?

Windows issues

• How do I disable UAC in Vista?
• Windows Explorer crashes when browsing a folder that contains video files
• Some icons appear in the system tray when I browse a folder that contains video files in Windows Explorer
• How do I manually change a file association in Windows XP?
• How can I force a full re-install of DirectX?
• I don't have sound in some programs
• How to fix "COM Surrogate has stopped worked" errors on Windows Vista?
• Windows Vista shows "Windows Explorer has stopped working" and "Windows Explorer is restarting" messages.
• My computer shows a BSOD or reboots when I play an audio or video file
• Running regsvr32.exe gives error 0x80070005
• I get an error when calculating the Windows Experience Index
• How can I change the default MIDI output device in Windows 8 and 10?

Troubleshooting

• How can I find out which component of the codec pack is the cause of a certain problem I am having after installing the codec pack?
• How can I see which codecs and filters are being used to play a file?
• How can I generate a list of all codecs and filters that are installed on my system?
• How can I remove broken codecs and DirectShow filters?
• How can I remove a DirectShow filter?
• How can I remove an ACM audio codec?
• How can I remove a VFW video codec?
• How can I prevent certain codecs from being used by a specific application or game?

Miscellaneous

• My game crashes during playback of an in-game video
• I have no sound in Flash movies on websites like YouTube
• I am unable to play .m2ts files in Sony Picture Motion Browser
• Where can I find some tutorials for encoding?
• Many ffdshow icons appear in the system tray when editing video in Adobe Premiere
• Subtitle Workshop crashes when loading subs
• How can I prevent ffdshow from being used by certain applications or games?
• I get an error when attempting to import a file with Windows Movie Maker
• My PC completely freezes or gives a BSOD when playing a file on Windows 7 x64 with a 2.1 speaker setup
• I have a Creative X-FI audio card. Which speaker configuration is recommended in the codec pack?
• I get black video or only audio when importing a video file in Windows Movie Maker

DXVA

• What is DXVA?
• What are the requirements to make DXVA work?

64-bit

• When do I need 64-bit codecs and DirectShow filters?
• Should I use a 32-bit or a 64-bit player?