Media Player will not play my MP4 video

rufford155 · Aug 7, 2024

I have been busy setting up my new Windows 11 laptop.

I have a 15- minute MP4 exercise video, originally downloaded from YouTube on my Windows 10 laptop, that I have copied across.

On Windows 10, it plays in Media Player with no problem at all.

But on Windows 11, Media Player says it cannot be played as it is in AVI format !

It is definitely not AVI - it is MP4 in properties- so how can Media Player be mistaken?

Have you any idea what the problem is here ?

Berton · Aug 7, 2024

I can play .mp4 videos on Win10 and Win11 in Media Player, Windows Media Player Legacy and in VLC. It may be that I always choose to include Codecs when installing VLC.

rufford155 · Aug 7, 2024

Berton said:
I can play .mp4 videos on Win10 and Win11 in Media Player, Windows Media Player Legacy and in VLC. It may be that I always choose to include Codecs when installing VLC.

That's good for you but I'm not sure how it helps me ?

antspants · Aug 7, 2024

What steps are you taking to try to play it?
Are you opening media player then trying to open the file via media player?
Or are you double clicking on the file in file explorer.

Consider VLC media player.

antspants · Aug 7, 2024

Possibly the wrong format for Media player (12?)

Install Required Windows Media Player MP4 Codecs

As Windows Media Player 12 only plays those MP4 videos encoded with MPEG-4 video codec and AAC audio codec, you need to make sure that you own such an MP4 file. Otherwise, you need to first consider downloading an MP4 codec pack to beef up your Windows Media Player.

Step 1. Open Windows Media Player on your computer.

Step 2. Select Tools > Options, or Organize > Options.

Step 3. Choose Once a Day under Automatic Updates under the Play tab.

Step 4. Click OK to save the settings and close the window. The required codec for MP4 playback on Windows Media Player will download automatically.

Step 5. Go back to play MP4 video on Windows Media Player again to see if the error is resolved.

If there is no specific MP4 codec, you can go to third-party codec sites to download an MP4 codec pack like K-Lite Codec Pack, CCCP, or Media Player Codec Pack for Windows Media Player. However, you should bear in mind that maybe the codec packs from third-party sites contain malware. If the Windows Media Player not playing MP4 video problem persists, you can try some other ways.

rufford155 · Aug 9, 2024

antspants said:
What steps are you taking to try to play it?
Are you opening media player then trying to open the file via media player?
Or are you double clicking on the file in file explorer.

Consider VLC media player.

antspants said:

What steps are you taking to try to play it?
Are you opening media player then trying to open the file via media player?
Or are you double clicking on the file in file explorer.

Consider VLC media player.

Click to expand...

I have tried double click, Open with and opening in Media player - everything fails.

rufford155 · Aug 9, 2024

Every other MP4 I've tried plays OK in Media Player - it's just this one.
So there's maybe something wrong with the file.
The puzzle is that the identical file plays OK in Media Player in Windows 10.
But Media Player thinks it is AVI in Windows 11 and plays sound only.

By the way, it plays perfectly in VLC and SM Player.

Curiouser and curiouser !!!

antspants · Aug 9, 2024

antspants said:
As Windows Media Player 12 only plays those MP4 videos encoded with MPEG-4 video codec and AAC audio codec, you need to make sure that you own such an MP4 file

rufford155 · Aug 9, 2024

I don't know how to find/check the codecs.

But the properties are identical on both laptops.

rufford155 · Aug 9, 2024

On Win 10 laptop, Media Player is 11.2309.6.0

On Win 11 laptop, Media Player is 11.2406.13.0

Neither is 12.

Berton · Aug 9, 2024

rufford155 said:
I don't know how to find/check the codecs.

I failed to mention the 'why' of getting VLC earlier, it has a choice of enabling Codecs during its install and I've never had to separately look for Codecs after the installing. Just maybe the Codecs found by VLC can be used by other players???

jimbo45 · Aug 12, 2024

@rufford155

On the computer where VLC plays the file go to show codecs -- then if missing one on the other machine either install manually or re-install VLC -- sometimes also ffmpeg might need to be re-installed but that's not usually required if VLC is installed with the latest release -- install from the videolan site NOT the windows store.

Cheers
jimbo

antspants · Aug 12, 2024

Download Handbreak and try to re-encode it.
Or you could download MkvToolNix and encode it as an .MKV file

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder.

handbrake.fr

MKVToolNix Downloads – Matroska tools for Linux/Unix and Windows

mkvtoolnix.download

For MKVToolNix
Scroll all the way down to “Windows” and download the installer 64bit.

Install
Open it
Drag the video onto the screen.
Click on Start Multiplexing
The new video.mkv file should get saved as the same name to the same destination as the original.
The extension will be changed from video.mp4 to video.mkv

rufford155 · Aug 12, 2024

I'm not sure why Media Player 12 has been mentioned because I'm reading from MS that it's not possible to have it in Windows 11.

When I have time I shall change the format of the problem video to see if I can fix it seems the only option.

It did install VLC and that plays it ok.

Many thanks for all your replies.

idgat · Aug 12, 2024

rufford155 said:
When I have time I shall change the format of the problem video to see if I can fix it.

It's not necessarily the format (type) of the video file that needs changing.

You need to understand that a video file (of whatever type) is simply a container for a video stream and an audio stream ... it's the format of these streams that media players are sensitive to. Thus an mp4 (or any other type, for that matter) file can contain different video stream formats that result in some being able to be played, and some not

However, changing the file type can often result in changing the video stream format, which makes the file playable ... or not

Hence the suggestion above to use MediaInfo to determine the format of the video stream in each file, irrespective of the file type

jimbo45 · Aug 12, 2024

antspants said:
Download Handbreak and try to re-encode it.
Or you could download MkvToolNix and encode it as an .MKV file

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder.

handbrake.fr

MKVToolNix Downloads – Matroska tools for Linux/Unix and Windows

mkvtoolnix.download

For MKVToolNix
Scroll all the way down to “Windows” and download the installer 64bit.

Install
Open it
Drag the video onto the screen.
Click on Start Multiplexing
The new video.mkv file should get saved as the same name to the same destination as the original.
The extension will be changed from video.mp4 to video.mkv

View attachment 104389

Hi there
Handbrake whilst a great free application really consumes loads of CPU so you need plenty of horsepower to run it --great for altering formats say MP4 to MKV or whatever. It's not the fastest but it does "what it says on the tin" though.

For most Audio and Video playback there's nothing wrong with VLC - especially as its free and regularly updated -- and it can operate as a server too. There are of course loads of other players - some free some not free -- but for what I'd imagine 95% of people just wanting playback you really can't beat VLC - and it even plays any DVD you might have converted to an ISO without all that regional nonsense that was on old DVD's. For commercially encrypted DVD's for playback simply install the libdvdcss module on linux and its windows equivalent which I think you can get on git-hub : GitHub - allienx/libdvdcss-dll: Compiled libdvdcss library for Windows. Ready for use with Handbrake.

Note though downloading this might be illegal in some jurisdictions -- OK in N.Europe and the USA though -- it's NOT Piracy -- you are simply being able to play an item you have paid for on your own equipment. !!!!

Cheers
jimbo

antspants · Aug 12, 2024

jimbo45 said:
Handbrake whilst a great free application really consumes loads of CPU so you need plenty of horsepower to run it

Hi Jimbo

I use it all the time, have you seen my system one? It's a dead weight from 2014. Consider that it's one video file.

rufford155 said:
I'm not sure why Media Player 12 has been mentioned

My confusion due to the fact both Media Player & Windows Media Player Legacy are both available in Windows 11. I assumed wrongly.

antspants · Aug 12, 2024

rufford155 said:
I'm reading from MS that it's not possible to have it in Windows 11

Berton · Aug 12, 2024

I have both Media Player and Windows Media Player Legacy on Win11, no issues. Also use VLC.

neves · Aug 12, 2024

rufford155 said:
Every other MP4 I've tried plays OK in Media Player - it's just this one.
So there's maybe something wrong with the file.
The puzzle is that the identical file plays OK in Media Player in Windows 10.
But Media Player thinks it is AVI in Windows 11 and plays sound only.

By the way, it plays perfectly in VLC and SM Player.

Curiouser and curiouser !!!

Just a personal curiosity: If you have other (Superior) players which work (simply - far far more capable - more features/codecs/filters rich) - why are you so fixated in using one the worst available video players (Windows Media Player) in 2024 and for quite some time now?

If anything - playing a video in WMP seems more like an optional feature - since the latest version/s (the interface in particular) - were optimized for audio files - while at the same time more sensitive with video-playback (seems to follow some encoding standards - probably endorsed by some anti-media piracy legal compliance) out of the box. While most of the other players (plenty highly capable - to chose from - depending on your personal needs/wants) - can play even partially broken videos (as much as possible).

To get some info on that file (or any media file) - can help to have this media info tool installed: