i hate this website name because it just looks sounds like a cheap site to get spyware lol but
http://www.free-codecs.com/
i spent a lot of time (damn years) looking for the best solution for me in terms of media playback on my PC (also some encoding). believe me if you can download a codec/codec pack i have probably tried it.
i never found just one solution in one package* so i ended up getting a few different things
* VLC is probably the best all-in-one solution IMHO, but i just don't like the player!
here's what i use
FFDShow:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/FFDShow.htm
FFDSHOW is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, H.264, FLV1, WMV, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4 movies. It uses libavcodec from ffmpeg project for video decompression, postprocessing code from mplayer to enhance visual quality of low bitrate movies, and is based on original DirectShow filter from XviD, which is GPL'ed educational implementation of MPEG4 encoder.
QuickTime Alternative:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...lternative.htm
QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt, .3gp and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player. It also supports QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages.
This also contains
Media Player Classic: 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.
you can also download QT Lite which doesn't contain media player classic, if you prefer another player. however media player classic is my video player of choice, simple and powerful, i simply hate windows media player, just like msn it's just full of crap that i dont want to see or use but you cant get rid of it.
that 's it in terms of video playback, oh actually if you do really need to play realmedia files then you can install the genuine bloatware/adware realmedia player or grab hold of Real Alternative:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...lternative.htm (also comes with media player classic).
also worth mentioning are
VLC:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
VLC Lite:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/vlc-lite
excellent all in one and will play pretty much everything.
only one choice for music
http://www.winamp.com/