Pre-installation instructions:

It is highly recommended to first uninstall other codec related packages before installing this package. This way your system stays clean and potential problems will be avoided. This installer is able to automatically detect a lot of codec packs and it will ask you if you want to uninstall them.

Installation instructions:

Below on this page you can find some information about all components included in this codec pack. Please read this information thoroughly. Leave all settings in the installer at their default values if you don't know exactly what you should install. Do NOT simply install everything.

Unattended installation:

Run the setup with the command-line parameter -MakeUnattended to create an unattended setup. A wizard called "Unattended Install Maker" will appear. Follow the instructions given in the wizard.

Features:

#   means that ffdshow is able to decode the same format(s) as the marked component. So you don't necessarily need to install the marked component if you install ffdshow.
#   means that Media Player Classic is able to decode the same format(s) as the marked component.  So you don't necessarily need to install the marked component if you install MPC and use it as your default player.

Players:

BSplayer [version 1.36.825]
This is a full-featured player. It has some nice features for playing movies through your TV-out.
Media Player Classic [version 6.4.8.6]
This is a full-featured player which has internal decoding support for DVD, MPEG-2, MP3, MP2, AAC, AC3 and DTS. It also has internal support for opening Matroska and Ogg containers. Media Player Classic is also capable of playing QuickTime and RealMedia content if those codecs are installed.

ffdshow:

ffdshow [build 2005-11-09]
ffdshow is a very powerful DirectShow filter can decode various audio and video formats. For example: DivX, XviD, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, MPEG1, MPEG2, MJPEG, CinePack, TrueMotion, DV, ASV1/2, VCR1, VP3, huffyuv, Theora, AAC, AC3, DTS, MP2, MP3 and TrueAudio. When using ffdshow you don't need to install separate DirectShow filters for all of these formats.
extra plugins
ff_kernelDeint.dll, TomsMoComp_ff.dll, FLT_ffdshow.dll, ff_samplerate.dll
ffdshow VFW interface
For encoding into various formats: H.264 (using x264), MPEG-4, Theora, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, SNOW, MJPEG and a couple more.

DirectShow video filters:

XviD [version 1.1.0 Beta2 build 2005-10-16] #
Required for playing XviD movies. XviD is currently the most popular format.
DivX Pro [version 5.2.1] #
Required for playing DivX movies.
3ivX Pro [version D4 4.5.1] #
Required for playing 3ivX movies.
On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0]
Required for playing VP6 movies. These are not very common.
On2 VP7 [version 7.0.8.0]
Required for playing VP7 movies. These are not very common.
Cyberlink DVD decoder [version 6.0.0.1417] #
This can be used to play DVDs with Windows Media Player, but only in combination with Windows XP.
MPEG-2 (Ligos) [version 4.0.0.77] # #
MPEG-2 (Cyberlink) [version 6.0.0.1402] # #
MPEG-2 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.56] # #
Required for playing MPEG-2 (and SVCD) movies. Ligos and MainConcept will also decode MPEG-2 audio streams.

VFW video codecs:

XviD [version 1.1.0 Beta2 build 2005-10-16] #
Required for encoding movies in the XviD format.
DivX Pro [version 5.2.1]
Required for encoding movies in the DivX format.
3ivX Pro [version D4 4.5.1]
Required for encoding movies in the 3ivX format.
Windows Media 9 VCM [version 9.0.1.369]
Required for playing movies and audio that are in the Windows Media 9 format.
Required for encoding movies into the Windows Media 9 format.
On2 VP3 [version 3.2.6.1 DT] #
Required for playing VP3 movies. These are not very common.
Required for encoding movies in the VP3 format.
On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0] [Encoding]
Required for encoding movies in the VP6 format.
On2 VP7 [version 7.0.8.0] [Encoding]
Required for encoding movies in the VP7 format.
Intel Indeo [version 5.2562.15.54]
Required for playing movies that have the Indeo 5 format.
Required for encoding movies into the Indeo 5 format.
Intel Indeo [version 4.51.16.2]
Required for playing movies that have the Indeo 4 format.
Required for encoding movies into the Indeo 4 format.
Intel Indeo [version 3.24.15.03]
Required for playing movies that have the Indeo 3 format.
Required for encoding movies into the Indeo 3 format.
Intel I.263 [version 2.55.1.16]
Required for playing movies that have the I.263 format.
Required for encoding movies into the I.263 format.
huffyuv [version 2.1.1 CCE Patch 0.2.5]
Required for playing movies that have the huffyuv format.
Required for encoding movies in the huffyuv format.
huffyuv is a lossless (no quality loss) video compression format.
MS MPEG-4 [version 4.1.0.3927] #
Required for playing movies that have the MS MPEG-4 format.
Required for encoding movies in the MS MPEG-4 format.
DivX ;) MPEG-4 Low and Fast motion [version 4.1.0.3927] #
Also known as DivX 3.11.

QuickTime Alternative:

QuickTime codecs [version 7.0.3.50]
Required for playing QuickTime content.
QuickTime plugin for Internet Explorer
Allows you to view QuickTime content that is embedded in a webpage. This is installed together with the QuickTime codecs.
QuickTime plugin for Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera
Allows you to view QuickTime content that is embedded in a webpage.
Extra QuickTime plugins
Plugins for the Indeo 5 and MPEG-2 formats.
QuickTime DirectShow filter #
Allows you to play QuickTime content in all DirectShow enabled players. Without this filter QuickTime content can only be played in Media Player Classic.

Real Alternative:

RealMedia codecs [version 6.0.12.1348]
Required for playing RealMedia movies and audio.
RealMedia plugin for Internet Explorer
Allows you to view RealMedia content that is embedded in a webpage. This is installed together with the RealMedia codecs.
RealMedia plugin for Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera
Allows you to view RealMedia content that is embedded in a webpage.
RealMedia DirectShow splitter [version 1.0.1.0] #
Allows you to play RealMedia files in all DirectShow enabled players. Without this filter RealMedia files can only be played in Media Player Classic. This filter only works with files that are on your harddrive. It does NOT work with streaming content. Therefore it is highly recommended to use Media Player Classic, because MPC does support streaming content.

DirectShow audio filters:

MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 1.9.0.311] # #
Required for playing movies that have a MP3 audio stream.
AC3 (AC3Filter) [version 0.70b mod] # #
Required for playing movies that have an AC3 audio stream. Use this version if you have problems with the less stable 1.01a version.
AC3 (AC3Filter) [version 1.01a rc5] # #
Required for playing movies that have an AC3 or DTS audio stream. Also required for DVD audio.
Vorbis (CoreVorbis) [version 1.1.0.79] #
Required for playing movies that have a Vorbis audio stream. This decoder is recommended above the ffdshow Vorbis decoder.
AAC (3ivX Pro) [version D4 4.5.1] #
Required for playing movies that have an AAC audio stream.
AAC (CoreAAC) [version 1.2.0.573] #
Required for playing movies that have an AAC audio stream.
MusePack [version 1.0.0.3]
Required for playing MusePack audio files.
Monkey's Audio [version 1.00]
Required for playing Monkey's audio files (.ape).
WavPack (CoreWavPack) [version 1.0.3]
Required for playing WavPack audio files.
FLAC (CoreFLAC) [version 0.4] #
Required for playing FLAC audio files.
Voxware MetaSound [version 1.0.0.12]
Required for playing movies that have a Voxware MetaSound audio stream.
AAC encoder (3ivX Pro) [version D4 4.5.1]
DirectShow encoder for AAC audio.

ACM audio codecs:

MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 3.3.2]
This can be used to encode MP3 streams/files.
MP3 (LAME) [version 3.97b1]
This can be used to encode MP3 streams/files.
Also installs LAME CLI (command line interface) and DLL.
AC3 (ffcHandler) [version 1.2]
Required for opening movies that have an AC3 audio stream in applications like VirtualDub.
DivX ;) Audio [version 4.2.0.0]
Some DivX 3.11 videos use this audio codec.

DirectShow source filters:

MP4 splitter (made by Haali) [build 2005-11-10]
Required for opening audio and video streams in a MP4 container (.mp4 files).
When you use this splitter to play a MP4 file that contains MPEG-4 video (DivX, XviD, etc) you will need either ffdshow or XviD to decode the video. When using XviD you need to enable support for the MP4V FourCC in it's decoder configuration.
Matroska splitter (made by Haali) [build 2005-11-10] #
Required for opening audio and video streams in a Matroska container (.mkv and .mka files).
Ogg splitter (OggDS) (made by Tobias) [version 0.9.9.5] and Ogg Vorbis DLLs [version 1.1.1 aoTuVb4] #
Required for opening audio and video streams in an Ogg container (.ogm and .ogg files).
Ogg splitter (made by Haali) [build 2005-11-10]
Required for opening audio and video streams in an Ogg container (.ogm and .ogg files).
MPEG-2 demuxer (Elecard) [version 3.1.190.41018] #
MPEG-2 demuxer (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.54] #
MPEG-2 demuxer (Ligos) [version 4.0.0.77] #
Required for opening audio and streams in a MPEG container.
Windows already has a MPEG-2 demuxer by default so normally you won't really need these.
The Ligos demuxer only works in combination with the Ligos decoder.
SHOUTcast Source [version 1.0.0.1]
This can be used to play SHOUTcast streams.

DirectShow subtitle filter:

DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.33]
DirectVobSub is a filter for displaying subtitles (ssa/ass, srt and vobsub). Your subtitle file(s) should have the same filename as your video file (for example: MovieName.avi - MovieName.idx - MovieName.sub) and should be in the same folder as your video file. Then the subtitles will automatically be displayed in most players.
DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.36 border fix]
See above. Use version 2.33 if you run into problems with this version. For most people version 2.36 will work ok.

DirectShow audio filters (general purpose):

Matrix Mixer [version 0.30b]
Matrix Mixer can be used to amplify the sound of a video file. It also can mix stereo sound to multiple channels (useful for 4.1 and higher speaker sets).
This filter is may cause playback problems, so it is NOT recommended to install this filter.
Morgan Multimedia Stream Switcher [version 0.9.9] #
Morgan Multimedia Stream Switcher can be used to switch between audio streams in an AVI video file that has multiple audio streams. These types of video files are not very common. Both Media Player Classic and BSplayer have this functionality build-in. This means that you do NOT need this filter if you use one of those players.
This filter is known to cause various playback problems, so it is NOT recommended to install this filter.
DC-DSP Filter [version 1.03]
This is an audio processing filter specially for DirectShow capable players (like Media Player Classic, BSplayer and Windows Media Player). It also supports Winamp visualisation and DSP plugins. To be used by advanced users only. DirectX 9 is required.
This filter is may cause playback problems, so it is NOT recommended to install this filter.

Tools:

GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.52 beta 1 build 2004-09-15]
GSpot is a tool that can tell you exactly which codecs are needed to play a certain video file. This is very helpful when you have troubles playing a video file.
VobSubStrip [version 0.11]
With this tool you can strip languages from VobSub subtitle files (.idx and .sub files).
GraphEdit [build 041201]
GraphEdit is a visual tool for building and testing DirectShow filter graphs.
LameDropXPd [version 3.97b1]
This tool can be used to encode MP3 files.
AVI Fixed [version 2.0b1]
This tool can rebuild the index section of .avi files. This can make files with broken frames playable. In some cases it will also solve synchronisation problems and incorrectly displayed movie lengths.
FourCC Changer
The FourCC (Four Character Code) Changer is a program for changing the FourCC of a video file, which is used to identify which codec should be used to decode the file. This tool is for expert users only.
Bitrate Calculator
This can be used to calculate the bitrate to use when encoding a movie.