Know any good video players?

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I have Windows Media Player 10 and Winamp 5.05.
I have a couple of video files on my comp which neither can play. Can you guys recommend a free media player?
Real Player and Quicktime are out of the question. Both were damn insistant on sticking to my comp even after I had tried my (noobish) best at uninstalling them.

TIA

 

ZoomPlayer, but it is shareware. With a new skin and some easily downloaded codecs, it can play almost any video or sound clip without problems. Personally, I would never use any MS product and WinAmp has problems with CD-music (clicking and skipping). If you decide to go for it, I recommend v4.02 over 4.03 since all that is updated is that nasty integrity-check.

 

Check out Elecard MPEG 2 Player.

 

DivX Pro package comes with its own player and lots of codecs. There's a free version, but (I think) the payable version comes with more codecs.

If they're Real or Quicktime files, there are alternative programs that are MUCH smaller and don't install any junk with them. The Real one in particular is a fantastic improvement over just how bad Real's official stuff is. Do a quick search on Google (keywords Real Quicktime Alternative) and you'll get a bunch of sites you can get these programs from.

 

I forgot to install the Divx codex after my last format.
Installed and most of them now work. One still does not To hell with it then.

@Ziad
Divx's free codec package also contains its player. And for my purposes, the codex in the free version are enough. Unfortunately, its player never really worked as well as WMP for me.

 

My favorite player of all time is VLC

 

Just tried it, and it looked too complex to my tastes. It also seemed to lack in certain aspects, like audio and image handling, the menus being empty and all. Lack of plug-ins? Dunno, but if it does not work out-of-the-box, it's a very bad sign...

 

The k-lite codec pack will get a lot of problems out of the way. You can get it here: http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm

 

That's what I meant

I actually don't like WMP. Version 9 and after are my personal nightmare come true when it comes to ease of use (I know, I'm weird). I try to use it as little as I can, and that's usually for .wmv (which aren't played by anything else, as far as I know)

DivX players is simple, straightforward, you can adjust brightness/contrast independantly of your main display, and it has all those neat speed/quality options for slower systems such as mine... what more could you want?

Real on the other hand... ugh.

 

Ziad .wmv can be played by most, if not all, the video players I've used so long as you have the right codec. If they won't play on something else then either download a chunky codec pack which should have it in or install WMP briefly so that it installs the codec then uninstall WMP. Tadaa.

 

VLC is the best media player out there because it has (almost) all codecs installed in it, so you should use that one.

If you want to use zoom player or some other player, you will need to install all the codecs in the right order, which is alot of work when you can just use VLC.

And for gods sake, dont use the K-Lite codec pack, Nimo or any others like that, because THEY CONTAIN SPYWARE.

VLC is the way to go.

VLC: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Codecs: http://www.free-codecs.com/ (this page also warns you about which ones contain spyware)


There is also a guide to codec installation somewhere, you can probably find it using DC, but VLC owns anyway, so...

 

VLC! VLC! VLC!

I used VLC last night to watch kung fu hustle. It handled the subtitles like a charm.

 

VLC was the only one that I downloaded who had the Codecs do play Resident Evil 2, and therefore it has my seal of approval.