HomeWindows Media Player should play .AVI files by default, however, sometimes, when you try to play an .AVI file in Windows Media Player, you may receive the following error messages:
- Invalid File Format Error=8004022F
- Cannot play back the file. The format is not supported. Error=80040265
- Cannot play back the video stream: no suitable decompressor could be found. Error=80040255
- Windows Media Player cannot open filename. You may need to reboot to complete installation of a downloaded component. Please verify that the path and filename are correct and try again. Error=80004005
- One or more codecs required to open this content could not be found. Error=C00D10D1
The cause why AVI files not played on Windows Media Player
When you try to play a file that uses a codec that is not installed on your computer, the Windows Media Player tries to download the codec from a Microsoft server. If the codec is available, the Windows Media Player installs it on your computer and then plays the file. However, if the codec is not available on the server (for example, because the codec was not created by Microsoft), the Windows Media Player displays a message that your computer is missing a codec.
In some cases, the file that you want to play uses a codec that is not available or compatible with the Windows Media Player. When that happens, you might be unable to use Windows Media Player to play this particular .avi file.
Understanding AVI format
AVI is a very old container format created by Microsoft in 1992. This means that an AVI file contains audio and video data streams that can be played together in sync. This is important because the format for the audio or video stream can be different inside the AVI container. For example, the video stream could be compressed using the DivX, Xvid, H.264, VP9 or MPEG-4 codec. If your AVI file contains a video stream that uses a more modern codec for compression, Windows Media Player may not be able to play it because it can't decompress that particular codec.
Solutions to fix Windows Media Player AVI playback problems
Solution 1: Simply upgrading Windows Media Player to the latest version
For Windows 10 users, it would be much ideal to upgrade the Windows Media Player to the latest version - Windows Media Player 12 which can play most formats.
Solution 2: Install Codec Packs or use VLC
If the problem is related to the codec and you insist on using Windows Media Player, your only other option is to download a codec pack. This used to be very common, but it's pretty rare these days.
You have to be careful when downloading codec packs because some of them contain malware, viruses, etc and will ruin your system. I highly recommend downloading VLC media player instead and using that since it already contains all the old and modern codecs by default and it's safe.
Related article: Play AVI with VLC
Solution 3: Convert AVI to Windows Media Player supported WMV
If above listed two solutions still not solve the problem, then the most effective solution for you is to transcoding the AVI to Windows Media Player supported playback formats. Although the newest WMP version 12 can handle various different file types, however, here, we highly recommend you choose the WMV file format, which is native supported by Windows Media Player without installing extra codec.
You can complete the job by downloading a program called Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate, which can efficiently transcode AVI encoded with various different compression codec such as Divx, Xvid, DV, MPEG-4, H.264, etc to WMP most favorable playback WMV file formats in 3 different file types:
- If you care much about output file quality, just select the "WMV3(WMV9)(*.wmv)" file which helps to produce a high quality wmv file with VC-1 codec.
- You can also choose to output an "HD WMV" format if you wish to preserve the original high definition quality.
- If you wish to have a fast conversion speed, you can ouput a WMV file with WMV2 (WMV8) codec
- You can also produce a high definition quality file by choosing to export "HD WMV" file format
Related article: Play MP4 on Windows Media Player | Play MKV with Windows Media Player | Play Tivo with Windows Media Player
Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate has perfect compatibility with the new Windows 10. It is very simple to use, no matter experienced user or fresh could handle it very well. Thanks to its batch conversion mode, you can batch load multiple AVI video into the application for conversion at one time to save your precious time. What's more, the program produces high quality conversion results with better video and audio quality.
Step by Step to Convert AVI for Windows Media Player Playback on Windows 10
Step 1. Add AVI files.
Click "Add Video" button to load AVI files to the program. You can also directly drag the video files into the program directly.
Step 2. Output Windows Media Player supported WMV file formats.
Output fast conversion speed WMV2(WMV8) file
Output high quality WMV3 (WMV9) file
Output WMV HD file
Step 3: Begin the conversion process.
After all setting is completed, hit the "Convert" button at the right bottom of the main interface to begin the conversion process from AVI to Windows Media Player supported WMV file format.
When the conversion is finished, click "Open Output Folder" icon on the main interface to open the folder with generated files. Then you will have no problem to play converted converted AVI files on Windows 10 with Windows Media Player.
Free Trial Video Converter Ultimate
