Error Message "Unable to Download an Appropriate Decompressor." Playing an .avi File

When you try to play .avi files with Microsoft Windows Media Player, you may receive the following error message: The .avi file may play, but there is no video, only sound.

This behaviour may occur when you try to play back .avi files that are encoded with third party codecs that Windows Media Player does not support.

To resolve this behavior and play a file created with the preceding codec, you must install the codec on the local computer. To install the codec, contact the content distributor or codec developer. Alternatively, the original encoding should be created by using a more widely distributed codec.

To download and install Windows Media Encoder, visit the following Microsoft Web site: This program can create the same multimedia file, but it uses codecs distributed with Windows Media Player.
For additional information about how to determine what codec you must have to play an .avi file that does not play in Windows Media Player, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.