Question

I am having trouble playing avi DivX files inWindows Media Player 10. The problem is unusual in that the first time that I attempt to play a DivX file after boot up it works OK. However, any subsequent time the result is very slow stuttering playback. The initial one second plays OK but then it is about one frame per second.

I have noticed that when the playback is slow, CPU usage is ramped up to 100 per cent (as monitored by Task Manager). The situation can be cured by rebooting windows, although this is very annoying.

My system is as follows: Acer Aspire 1630 laptop, Sempron 3000+ processor, 512MB of Ram, Nvidia Geforce Go 5200 graphics,Windows XP Home SP2, Windows Media Player 10 and DivX 5.1.2 codec. Any clues or tips to solve this problem would be gratefully received.

Answer

There are a number of potential sources for the problem. The DivX codec, your video card drivers, DirectX, or a conflict with another video editor or player are all suspects. First make sure you are using the most recent drivers for your Geforce 5200 Go graphics card, which you can get from the Nvidia website.

You should also download and install DivX 5.2.1 from www.divx.com. You can use Gspot (www.headbands. com/gspot) to help diagnose codec problems and conflicts (see screenshot 1). Drop the DivX file into Gspot and click the Render button to determine the codec used for playback. Although you say you have the DivX 5.1.2 codec installed, it’s possible that this is not the codec being used by Media Player.

You might also try using the open source Xvid mpeg-4 codec, (www.xvid.org) which can play DivX files, as an alternative. As a final thought, you say that CPU usage is 100 per cent, but there’s an outside possibility that another application, not Windows Media Player is the culprit. Check the Processes tab of the Task Manager to make sure this isn’t the case.