If you’ve ever downloaded a digital music file or video from the internet and not been able to play it, you may need to install the correct codec on your computer. We have another tutorial introducing What a codec pack is exclusively, but in a word, a codec is a tool that allows the processing of video and audio signal. The software helps media-playing programs read audio-video data by encoding and decoding files. This section, we have picked up 3 clean and safe codec packs for you. These packs below save time hunting about on the internet for one particular codec.

Part 1: Top 3 Best Codec Packs for Windows Media Player

In comparison, codec packs often contain just about every useful codec you’ll ever need to make your computer ultra-compatible. What’s more, downloading media codec pack to install the required codecs on our computer is not the only option, there is a better way that switch to a more powerful player with numerous codecs inbuilt.

Top 1. Media Player Codec Pack

Windows offers this package to the users that can be used as an alternative to automatically downloading Windows Media Codecs and for correct problems experienced with previous codecs.

The Media Player Codec Pack is a good choice for casual and advanced users alike. It supports almost every compression and file type you’re likely to find in modern video and audio files. You can opt to use the “Easy Installation” or the “Expert Installation,” which adds advanced settings for a high-end user.

Package Utilities:

* Media Player Classic Home Cinema 1.7.13 x86 (XP/2000 version is 1.6.8) – Selectable by right-clicking on any file.
* Disc Handler – For double click playback on Blu-ray disc icons in Windows Explorer.
* Codec Settings GUI – Allows the user to modify codec, graphics and sound settings.
* Codec Settings UAC (User Account Control) Manager – Copies settings between users.
* Update Checker – Checks for updates once every 7 days (Administrator only).
* Tray Menu – Gives easy access to codec utilities and allows fast audio profile switching.

Top 2. K-Lite Codec Pack

The K-Lite Codec Pack is one of the most popular codec pack available in the market for various reasons: it counts with a great user-friendly interface for installation and its huge catalog of codec is regularly updated. K-Lite Codec Pack is a virus-free download which should be safe to use on Windows. This video and audio codecs pack come with four different variants, Basic, Standard, Full and Mega respectively, ranging from a small bundle to a large one. All of them are free to use.

The pack provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience for novice users, while at the same time offering many options for expert users to tweak things. It works great in combination with Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. It is also compatible with other popular players such as Media Player Classic, ZoomPlayer, KMPlayer, PotPlayer, GOM Player, and many others. It contains everything you need to play all your movies and music. This pack has a huge user base. This means that problems are found and resolved quickly.

In addition to providing codec programs, K-Lite Codec Pack also includes a variety of utility tools that can easily process audio and video files. These tools can work well with codecs, such as adding subtitles, getting file information, etc. K-Lite Codec Pack is a full-featured codec kit package that allows you to play audio and video files in almost any format on your computer. After installing the K-Lite Codec Pack, your player can take most of the audio and video formats.

Top 3. X Codec Pack

X Codec Pack is a versatile media management software, which can not only help users solve the problem that the video cannot be played normally, but also help users compile files. It has many functions and is also very practical. X Codec Pack is a multimedia encoder / decoder software, with DVD decoder function, when you have some multimedia files or videos, but cannot play or cannot see the screen of the video, usually you are missing the editing / translation of the video Codec, you must have the corresponding codec / decoder to play and watch the video normally. When it can't be played, you can install this X Codec Pack to try it out. It can intelligently select multiple decoders to reduce resource consumption. Moreover, it can carry out fine-tuning and coordination of various decoder technical parameters. It can also provide users with automatic update of the main player program as well as automatically repairing and optimizing the audio and video files.

Part 2: How to Install Codec Pack to Windows Media Player

Since you have the general knowledge about the codec pack for Windows Media Player, now you can choose your own preferred one, and then start installing codec pack to Windows Media Player. Here I will set K-Lite Codec Pack as the example to show you how to install Windows Media Player codec pack.

Step 1. Go to K-Lite Codec Pack website and find the download option. Then click the download button to start downloading the codec pack which is usually in WAR format.

Step 2. Unzip the K-Lite Codec Pack WAR file and click the install icon in the file to start installing the file step by step. You had better select the “Easy Installation” mode which is much more convenient and simple.

Step 3. Restart Windows Media Player and load the digital file to the player again to make it work properly.

Part 3: Free Alternative without Installing Additional Codec Pack

But speaking of the best solution, which means switch to another more powerful player with numerous codecs inbuilt, this FREE Leawo Blu-ray Player is highly recommended to you. With it, you don’t have to download any codec pack at all, since all codec packs were already built-in. All these codecs won’t conflict with anything on your operating system. To put it in another way, this professional region-free Blu-ray player software is able to play almost all video and audio files including those that can’t be played by Windows Media Player without the right codec pack like MKV, RMVB and etc. Moreover, if you are playing Blu-ray or DVD file, you can even use the virtual remote control to manage your watching experience at the distance while cozily lying on the couch. Most importantly, you will never get overwhelmed by this software, since it has the easiest user interface. It can even enable you to create MKV files from Blu-ray discs without quality loss.

Step 1. To start with, open the installed software on the computer and then hit the Open File option to load the source file. Once the file has been loaded to the program, then you can see the multimedia files immediately.

Step 2. Then you can right click on the main interface to change the settings as wanted such as subtitle, video/audio track or other information.

Step 3. Set subtitles. After loading the file, it will be played automatically. During the playback, you can move mouse to the title area. Then you could see 4 icons. Then select the first icon and a pop-up window for subtitles setting will appear which includes “Enable subtitles”, “Subtitle offset”, “Subtitle selecting”, “Browse for subtitle”.

Step 4. Set video and audio parameters. The video and audio setting process is as the same as subtitle settings. Click the second icon and the third icon in the title area to set video parameters and audio parameters respectively. The editing features of Leawo Blu-ray Player could allow you to obtain a customized video and will give you more special watching experience.

Part 4: Conclusion

This media codec pack list showcases some of the best collections for Windows that you can download for free. It is hard to tell which one is the best, you can take a try on the above three codec packs respectively based on your own preferences. However, considering a better media player – Leawo Blu-ray Player – for saving more time and enjoying movie-like experience would be a ideal solution. With it, you will be able to play almost all types of video and audio files without any restrictions. Actually, it is no exaggeration to say this FREE Leawo Blu-ray Player is a combination of Windows Media Player and all codec packs for its non-supported files. Such a powerful yet free media player is waiting for you, what are you waiting for?