Codec Clean Up

[Snowman]

Can anyone provide a means of identifying and Can anyone provide a means of removing all the various codec's that have been installed over time so I can make a clean codec installation?

Thanks

removing all the various codec's that have been installed over time so I can make a clean codec installation?

Thanks

[BSPeter]

Doesn't Windows offer that possibility?
Look under Control Panel for something like "Sound and multimedia"
On one of the TABs you should be able to find Video compression codecs (and separately Audio compression codecs) .
If you click on it you get a list of codecs.
Via "Properties" you can also "remove" the codec.

[Snowman]

You are correct, it's buried under the "Hardware" tab - which is the last place I was looking for software codecs!

Thanks

[Shiksa Grrrl]

There is a fantastic small program by the name of GSpot @ http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ which will not only tell you all the codecs you have installed in your system, but for anyone who watches films, this is a must have appliance.

It will tell you which codec you need for any movie that you do watch, and many other features.
Truly, a must have for movie fans.

● Establishes what video codecs (audio and video) are required to play an AVI file.
● Determines whether these codecs are installed on your system.
● Isolates problems associated with these codecs.
● Simple operation - Basic use: "File > Open", then read results

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● Identifies download induced problems (truncated files, "cooked" files, etc.)
● Shows framerate, duration, aspect ratio, bitrates, AVI structure info, and more.
● Displays and allows editing of RIFF info (title, etc); displays "hidden" ASCII info.

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● Drag and Drop and "Send To" support, multi-file (batch) processing support
● Copy/Paste or text export GSpot information - format is user configurable.
● Built-in database of 350 video and 150 audio codec types
● Advanced UI including "dual-mode" and hyperlinked "persistent" tool tips

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● Full support for OGG media files as well as AVI stream formats
● Identification (only) of non-AVI files (.mpg, .mov, .qt, .rm, .swf, .wmv, .asf, etc.)
● Supports VFW, ACM, DirectShow and DMO codec types (audio and video)

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● Win95/98/ME/NT/2K/XP
● No Install (optional), No spyware, No advertising, No registration
● Free

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in beta test:
● MPEG support
● Identification of the use of QPel, GMC & B-VOP in MPEG4/DivX-5 AVI's

[pietro]

It's interesting to see that list of codecs. But how do you find out which ones you can get rid of?