FAQ -
“No program has been specified to process files of type…”
When I try to launch a multimedia (AVI, MPG, MOV, RM) file I
get a message saying “No program has been specified to
process files of type…”
In order to play multimedia
files such as AVI and MPEG, you must have two components
installed: Windows Media Player and the appropriate
compressor/decompressor (CODEC) module.
Windows now ships with Media Player as a standard part of
the system. However, if it is not installed on your
computer, you can download it from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp.
Each type of file (AVI, MPEG, MP3, etc.) requires a
different CODEC. Fortunately, Microsoft provides
CODECs for many common file types such as MP3 and MPEG. They
do not, however, provide a CODEC for AVI files.
Fortunately, you can download a good free one from this
site:
http://www.divx.com/divx/
What you need to download is "ivX 5.0" (or a later
version). The free DivX player will be installed along with
the CODEC, but you can ignore the player. Media Player will
use the DivX AVI CODEC.
For MOV files, you need to get to get the QuickTime player.
You can download it from
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
(Apple produces it, but there is a version for Windows).
Another good, free multimedia player that can handle some
obscure file types (as well as the common file types) is "VLC
Media Player". You can download it from
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
If you encounter a media type that the other players can't
handle, try VLC.
For RM (RealMedia) files, you need to get a copy of the
RealOne player from http://www.real.com
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