Codecs - Looking for safe downloads & Recommendations

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

Where can you find safe and up-to-date downloads of codecs? I just finished trying to download a DX50 codec, from a site to which Microsoft itself linked me. I scanned the file with Spybot and AVG, which both reported no threats. Then when I tried to run it, Spybot kicked in, saying that it contained malware - HotsearchBar.

So where can you find clean downloads of current codecs?
And what codecs or packages do people recommend?

[Tom.K]

DX50? Never heard about that codec. Are you sure that you have downloaded it from microsoft. It could be malicious. I don't recommend installing random codecs. Some info about malicious codecs:[DONE] Warning! Infection via bad CODEC installs. Zlob Trojan (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=7344)
I recommend you to download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack which contains all codecs which are required for video and music.
If you don't want to install codec packs, then you can install VLC Media Player which can play most videos and music without installing any other codecs.

[shelf life]

DX50 is DIVX 5.0. As a rule you should only install codecs you need. If a file can t play assuming its because of a missing codec you could use gspot or similar software to see what codec you may be missing. I have used k-lite standard package and VLC player. some packages may bundle players which you can uncheck during the install process. I would treat downloading and installing codecs the same way i would treat any other download/install to my computer. That unwanted add on was probably spelled out in the EULA.

links:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/codecs

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

Tom.K and shelf life, thank you for your responses!

Tom.K, I don't want to download "random codecs." That's why I came here for safe recommendations :)

When Windows Media Player could not play the file, it gave me a missing codec message. I clicked on the Web Help link that WMP displayed, which brought up this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/webhelp/default.aspx?ID=C00D10D1&codec=DX50 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/webhelp/default.aspx?ID=C00D10D1&codec=DX50)

As you'll see, that page provides a link to this site and page:
http://www.wmplugins.com/ItemDetail.aspx?&codec=DX50 (http://www.wmplugins.com/ItemDetail.aspx?&codec=DX50)

I clicked to download the codec offered there, saved it to My Downloads, and scanned it with Spybot S&D and AVG antivirus. They both found no threat. However, when I went to run it, Spybot brought up an alert that said the file contained malware (HotsearchBar), and offered to delete the file in question. shelf life, if the EULA spelled out the inclusion of that malware upon install, I wouldn't know, as I viewed the source as a bad actor, at that point, and didn't want to find out the hard way what else was wrong with the file. I took Spybot's word for it, and deleted the entire thing.


And came here, looking for guidance.


Thank you for the links and recommendations. I'm glad you've both brought up VLC player, because I had a whole wrong idea of what that is. I thought it was a player for use with a particular bit torrent site, which made me wary. I'm going to try VLC player, now that I have the right information about it.


I also want to be able to use WMP and Irfanview for videos, if the want arises, so I'll want to find the right codecs. shelf life, you trust the codecs at videohelp.com, then? I'm looking around there, right now.

[shelf life]

I followed your link and theres nothing wrong with that codec package. Dont know how the hotsearchbar came about. Most of the sources are from Divx.com
Same link from VCDhelp.com, which I do trust for codecs and anything about video/audio.

If you check the tool section you may also be interested in:
codec/video identifiers
Video players

http://www.videohelp.com/tools

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

shelf life, I don't know what you mean, when you say there's nothing wrong with the DivX codec package at that link - do you mean, the codec itself would be good, if it wasn't packaged with malware? Did you try downloading and running it?

I did run Gspot, thanks. It said I needed a certain version of DivX, to play AVI/mpeg-4 video.

In looking around, I made a couple of my own discoveries.

Number 1, I couldn't find a copy of DivX codec anywhere, including the creators' site and videohelp.com, that wasn't packaged with HotsearchBar. And a quick search for *that* shows a slew of people asking for help to remove it and describing its malicious symptoms. And Spybot S&D identified it as malware, as soon as I tried to run DivX. I'm not willing to count on any entity that packages that with their software, to make it managable to avoid activating, once it's on my computer.

But 2nd! it appears that the open source codec, Xvid, does the same work as DivX. And no malware! or toolbars or ebay icons.

So, both DivX and Xvid provide the missing codec, DX50, or so it seems, as Xvid has made Windows Media Player play AVI video. I had not realized that more than one codec might do the same job. In a way, I'm more confused than before, ha

I wonder if any of the tools you've mentioned show all the possible codecs that will play a given file or format.

[I_dream_of_Mercury]

...and my original questions still stands: If anyone has links to codecs or codec packages that are clean copies, please post them here.

videohelp.com is a great resource, and I certainly don't think they're responsible for any malware or invasive software bundled with the downloads on their site. But they're a place to find links to downloads, so some of the downloads there are safe and some aren't, in my observation.

One source I've found for a (currently) safe download of one codec is http://www.xvid.org/.


By the way, could someone explain why downloading codec packages is considered bad, as opposed to only downloading the specific codecs you need? Truthfully, I still don't yet understand the use of codecs.

[Tom.K]

You can download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack which contains all known codecs here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Codec-Packs-Video-Codecs/KLite-Mega-Codec-Pack.shtml.
As the page says, it does not have any malware in it.

About bad/malicious codecs, i've already gave link at 2nd post.
[DONE] Warning! Infection via bad CODEC installs. Zlob Trojan (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=7344)

[shelf life]

i downloaded this from a vcdhelp link:

http://www.divx.com/en/products/software/windows/divx

some useless add-ons but didnt see any hotsearchbar.

VLC player should get you all the codecs you need and is open source.