When I play a video file (.wmv, .avi, .mpg is all I've tried), Windows Media Player opens and the audio starts, but the player screen stays black. I can't get the video to display.

I tried updating from WMP version 10 to version 11, but that didn't fix it. I also installed the newest codecs from MS (file name is WM9Codecs.exe). Near the end of the install of the new codecs I got a message that said "Microsoft Media Technology" wasn't compatible with this version (or something like that). But, at the end of the install of the new codecs, I got another message saying the install completed and that I needed to reboot. The pc rebooted fine. The new codecs didn't fix it either.

As a side note, I uninstalled WMP 11 and during the process all my restore points vanished. I had planned on restoring to a point prior to the recent install of WMP after I had uninstalled it, but all the restore points were gone.

I installed VLC Media Player and it has the same problem.

I have the latest video driver from Intel for: Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family (via Device Manger - Display adapters)

It has been over a month since I played a video file and I don't remember everything that I have changed on the pc since the last time I played one, but here are some changes I do remember:

Installed Jungle Disk (A front end for using Amazon's S3 web based storage.). Un-installed Zone Alarm free firewall. Updated Adobe Reader. Installed and uninstalled trial of IP Traffic Monitor 2.2. Updated my password manager. Updated Firefox.

If anyone has heard of this problem and knows how to fix it, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for any help you can give. - Joe

Win XP, Home SP 2, all critical updates

A lot depends on the type of video and which codec(s) it was compressed with. You need that one back before Media Player can play it.

Have you tried these? Should be able to play the majority of things you find online.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm

I would also suggest upgrading/reinstalling your video driver.

I worked through the trouble shooting process at this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306317 and got WMP 10 playing video again. Adjusting the video acceleration in WMP 10 fixed the problem (Tools > Options > Performance tab > Video Acceleration: changed from Full to the middle position.) Someone told me that full is the default setting, so I guess that something has changed in the PC so that WMP 10 won't play properly in the default setting. I'm not going to try and figure out what the change/problem is, I'm glad it's operating again and am satisfied for now. The link had several things to test/try that I didn't know existed. Hope it helps someone else someday.

Some additional info that may help someone, I happened to notice a strange listing on the recently opened programs list in the Win Start Menu. It was called something like "Convert Video to VLC mode" as opposed to some program name. The path was to VLC. Curiosity got the best of me and I clicked it. The VLC player gui flashed on the screen for less than a second and disappeared. I went back to the Win Start Menu and the link/listing wasn't visible anymore. Then I opened a .wmv file and VLC opened and played it just fine. If I had known to go through this step after I installed VLC, VLC probably would have worked the day I installed it. I assumed VLC was ready to go after the installation when I saw the VLC logo/icon associated with all the video files on my pc.

Thanks to Neil Jones and Starjax for your replies.

Joe

Because of another problem (some icons are no longer showing up down by the clock, one of them being the video driver icon), I just reinstalled the video card driver. It is the current driver. Unfortunately no change to WMP 10 needing to be on middle setting of the Video acceleration adjustment. WMP 10 still runs fine at the middle setting though.

Joe