How do I preview a media file?
I don't recommend you use Kazaa to preview a media file. If it works for you, that's great, but there are a lot of people who have problems with it.
To preview a file, wait until you have downloaded at least 500 KB of the file (for big files, such as movies of couple of Megabyte is better). Then pause the download.
Option 1:
Copy the file to another directory. (Like My Documents) Then change the extension to the correct one (.mp3 .avi .mpg etc.). Then play it in Windows Media Player (or another player). For some movie files this will not work. If so, try option 2.
Option 2:
Open your partial downloaded movie with VideoLAN or AVI Preview. You don't even need to copy or rename it. Just open the .dat file.
VideoLAN
AVI Preview
Why can’t I preview a certain media file?
There are two main reasons for this:
- Some media files cannot be previewed because of their nature. MP3 and MPEG should play, AVI does not always work. See the topic above for some players that can play incomplete AVI files.
- The file is in use. Watching or playing the file while it downloads isn't possible. If you tried playing it in the Kazaa theatre before you tried another videoplayer, it might also be in use. Close Kazaa and try again.
I hear no sound when I play a video file.
You don't have the Codec you need to play that type of video. There is a codec for each different system of encoding sound or video files.
Read the topic "Which codecs do I need to install ?" below on this page.
I have problems playing a video file.
You don't have the Codec you need to play that type of video. There is a codec for each different system of encoding sound or video files.
Read the topic "Which codecs do I need to install ?" below on this page.
When I preview an audio/video file, it contains some parts of other audio/video files that I have downloaded, but the file is correct when completed downloading
When you delete a file, only the pointer (in the file allocation table or FAT) to that file is removed to make the space the file used become free. The actual data stays on your disk until it is overwritten by another file.
When Kazaa creates a .dat file (partial download), it claims a bit of free space on your harddrive for this file. The data will be downloaded into that claimed space, overwriting the old data. When you preview your partial download, it thus can contain some old data from another file (which was not yet overwritten, because your download is not complete yet).
Which codecs do I need to install ?
Get the K-Lite Codec Pack here. It contains everything you need.
How to find out what codecs are used by a movie?
You can find that out with the AVIcodec or Gspot program.
More codec links
DivX - XviD - Quicktime - Real
How to make a VCD / SVCD
You can convert a AVI movie to (S)VCD with a program such as TMPGenc.
Very detailed guides to do this can be found here:
How can I play a downloaded movie on my standalone DVD player ?
Most standalone DVD players support VCD and/or SVCD playback. You can see if yours does on your player or in the manual.
If you movie in in mpeg format you are lucky. That can easily be converted to (S)VCD. DivX movies are more difficult. Converting those take a lot of time and at a loss of quality.
Very detailed guides to do this can be found here:
How to rip a DVD?
Very detailed guides to do this can be found here:
How to create a DivX movie?
Very detailed guides to do this can be found here: