Do I need ffdshow if I have K-Lite MEGA codec?
August 8th, 2016
All I use my PC for is downloading movies and music… the music goes right to my portable HD and as soon as I download a movie, I almost immediately burn it and delete the file from my PC… so I’m guessing I don’t need all of these extra codecs and stuff.. let me know.. THANKS!
You don’t need K-lite at all!
Burning software pretty much have the codecs built-in now. I haven’t run into a video that couldn’t be encoded without “k-lite” or the likes for years.
Pretty simple question.. I'm not great with this stuff, but I know I need either both of these or just the K-Lite Mega Codec by itself... So please let me know, I have the newest K-Lite Mega Codec 10.7.5...
All I use my PC for is downloading movies and music... the music goes right to my portable HD and as soon as I download a movie, I almost immediately burn it and delete the file from my PC... so I'm guessing I don't need all of these extra codecs and stuff.. let me know.. THANKS!
I’d recommend not using any of these codec packs anyway – they often cause more trouble than they are worth.
For playing on your computer, use a decent media player.. MPC HC or VLC player. Both will play 99% of anything.
Now – are you burning movies as a playable DVD (converting)? If so, then your conversion program will have whatever codecs it needs (usually libavcodec)
If you are burning the movies as a file, a data DVD, to play on a player – then the player has to handle the video codec, not your computer. Most DVD players only handle mpeg/dvd.. most bluray players handle most of the major common video codecs (mp4, mkv, etc).
No need for codec packs, if I need a codec I download only the one needed… Sometimes you can really mess things up with those packs…
Pretty simple question.. I'm not great with this stuff, but I know I need either both of these or just the K-Lite Mega Codec by itself... So please let me know, I have the newest K-Lite Mega Codec 10.7.5...
All I use my PC for is downloading movies and music... the music goes right to my portable HD and as soon as I download a movie, I almost immediately burn it and delete the file from my PC... so I'm guessing I don't need all of these extra codecs and stuff.. let me know.. THANKS!
I'd recommend not using any of these codec packs anyway - they often cause more trouble than they are worth.
For playing on your computer, use a decent media player.. MPC HC or VLC player. Both will play 99% of anything.
Now - are you burning movies as a playable DVD (converting)? If so, then your conversion program will have whatever codecs it needs (usually libavcodec)
If you are burning the movies as a file, a data DVD, to play on a player - then the player has to handle the video codec, not your computer. Most DVD players only handle mpeg/dvd.. most bluray players handle most of the major common video codecs (mp4, mkv, etc).
Really? So I don’t need K-Lite or anything else? I’ve been formatting my HD on a yearly basis because I have a rather old computer, so I like to format it to keep it running smoothly and put all my music and larger files on a portable HD and only install what is absolutely necessary on my PC… such as Revo Uninstaller, CCleaner, Anti-Virus/Firewall, ConvertXtoDVD, WinAMP… etc etc… So I can’t even remember WHY I was installing it, I’ve just always had it in my backup folder… I believe it was because I wouldn’t get sound for certain movie files… All I do nowadays is TEST the movie to make sure the sound quality and picture are ok and then I burn it to a playable DVD with ConvertXtoDVD…. not data. Once it’s burnt, I delete the movie file. So, I shouldn’t need K-Lite OR anything else if I’ve got ConvertXtoDVD running on my PC? Anything to uninstall unnecessary programs.. I’m all for it.
ConvertX is all you need for the video.
Really. You might come across a video about as often as there is a blue moon, that needs something else, but frankly, it’s easier to get another version than to deal with the rogue encoding.
The simple answer is NO, because the Mega pack has ffdshow in it..
http://www.codecguide.com/klcp_contents_comparison.htm
Actually ffdshow by itself and maybe hali media splitter would probably cover most of what you may need
especially if you are using players or converters that have their own codecs anyhow.
Having too many codecs floating around has been known to cause conflicts..
Something I noticed a few years ago with MPC is that if you downloaded it by itself, it would be set up to
use it’s own codecs and they worked fine..
If you got it with a codec pack, they would set it up to all the external codecs, which I thought did not work as well
or any better, anyhow!
I use Daum PotPlayer these days and it’s great..
It comes with all it’s own codecs set up.
But, once again you may select external codes if you so desire
I’ve been using the K-lite Mega codec pack since like ……… forever ………. and I’ve never had any problems with it …. It’s never caused any issues for me.
Just a little follow up here… I uninstalled ffdshow AND K-Lite Mega Codec 10.7.5 and almost immediately had issues… for instance, I had downloaded a movie that was .mp4 format and Windows didn’t seem to know what to use to open it anymore now that the codec was uninstalled.. so I chose “open with” and picked Windows Media Player and WMP didn’t recognize the file either, of course. Typically, whenever I opened a .mp4 of .mvk movie file, it automatically played via WMP or the classic media player… after the uninstall tho, I got nothing… it simply didn’t recognize the file. So, I re-installed just the K-Lite Mega Codec and sure enough, it immediately recognized the file and opened using MPC-HC…… so I guess I do need the K-Lite codec, but not the separate ffdshow.
I've been using the K-lite Mega codec pack since like ......... forever .......... and I've never had any problems with it .... It's never caused any issues for me.
Did you install all of it or select parts you wanted?
I ask because most numpties shout (in a Clarkson voice) “POWER” and install everything – and that’s where it often goes wrong. **
When you know what you need, codec packs are good.
(( ** I hope, after saying “numpties”, that you didn’t install everything.. hehe.. *backs away from an irate SaturnSid* ))
Just a little follow up here... I uninstalled ffdshow AND K-Lite Mega Codec 10.7.5 and almost immediately had issues... for instance, I had downloaded a movie that was .mp4 format and Windows didn't seem to know what to use to open it anymore now that the codec was uninstalled.. so I chose "open with" and picked Windows Media Player and WMP didn't recognize the file either, of course. Typically, whenever I opened a .mp4 of .mvk movie file, it automatically played via WMP or the classic media player... after the uninstall tho, I got nothing... it simply didn't recognize the file. So, I re-installed just the K-Lite Mega Codec and sure enough, it immediately recognized the file and opened using MPC-HC...... so I guess I do need the K-Lite codec, but not the separate ffdshow.
We DID say – if you’re using a proper media player, MPC HC or VLC Player, et al, you don’t need codecs at all.
If you use the supremely crippled Microsoft “player”, you pretty much need every codec.. MS player barely plays windows media, let alone much else!
The problem you have is that by removing K-lite, you removed a bunch of normal codecs.
K-lite uninstaller doesn’t just uninstall what it put on it, but also any codecs that were there in the first place!
The answer is, as says, use VLC or the like to play a video. To convert, you still don’t need K-lite.
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I mostly use the default settings but cancel all file associations to any particular software … so yes, all of it I suppose. Like I said, I’ve never had any problem with it.
I’ve always used Media Player Classic for video playback and perhaps I don’t need all the codecs but they are not doing any harm (so far at least)
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I mostly use the default settings but cancel all file associations to any particular software ... so yes, all of it I suppose. Like I said, I've never had any problem with it.
I've always used Media Player Classic for video playback and perhaps I don't need all the codecs but they are not doing any harm (so far at least)
In that case, thanks for not getting ratty over the “numpties” comment.. It might a really simple answer – your not having problems might just be because the various codecs aren’t actually in use – MPC uses libavcodec (which plays almost anything), the other codecs don’t get a look-in.
I’ve heard, a while ago (and newer versions of the codec packs might have fixed it) that installing all the codecs has them queuing or “fighting” over who renders what..
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I mostly use the default settings but cancel all file associations to any particular software ... so yes, all of it I suppose. Like I said, I've never had any problem with it.
I've always used Media Player Classic for video playback and perhaps I don't need all the codecs but they are not doing any harm (so far at least)
In that case, thanks for not getting ratty over the "numpties" comment.. It might a really simple answer - your not having problems might just be because the various codecs aren't actually in use - MPC uses libavcodec (which plays almost anything), the other codecs don't get a look-in.
I've heard, a while ago (and newer versions of the codec packs might have fixed it) that installing all the codecs has them queuing or "fighting" over who renders what..
To be honest, I am a bit of a numpty when it comes to codecs and I install K-Lite Mega Pack in the hope that it covers everything I will ever need.
To be honest, I am a bit of a numpty...
Hahah!!
*bow to you*
Respect – not many would admit to their numpty-hood.
Windows Media Player and WMP didn't recognize the file either, of course. Typically, whenever I opened a .mp4 of .mvk movie file, it automatically played via WMP or the classic media player... after the uninstall tho, I got nothing... it simply didn't recognize the file.
That’s your problem! Windows Media Player doesn’t come with all the built in codecs. Use VLC Player, then you will not have a need for codecs as it’s already built in .