how to play any video and music format

ever try to download a video file or music file only to be told by windows that i cant play or recognize the format. here are a couple of tips to make your PC/laptop  play any video format with no problems

 download a codec.
    A codec is a set of small programs that are able to read and translate a form of media. they are easy to install and they turn on and off by themselves.they usually come in packs of more than one type. each and every media type has a single codec hence the packs of them

here are a few codec.

xvid
this is a low level codec pack that is able to read some main stream media types. use this if you just want to play a basic range of Media types and don't want to take up a lot of space or processing power to run
plays: mp4, wmv (windows media video), and AVI
Link:xvid codec


Divx
this is a mid-high level codec pack that is a field leader. this pack gives you the option for personal tweaking that helps to make it better (although you must know what you are doing as you can mess up your computer). this codec pack also gives you the option to download there HD video player if you are tired of windows media player it works with there codec pack if you want to try something different
plays:DivX, AVI, MKV, MP4 and MOV.
Link:Divx codec


K-lite
this is a mid-high level jack of all trades codec pack. this is one of my personal favorites.it plays almost every type of video and even has a special pack to play duel audio and subtitled video. it also comes with its own media player called windows media player classic.this pack also allows for extra tweaking with a little know how you can have a very full video experience.
plays:AVI, MKV, MP4, FLV, OGM, MPEG, MOV, HDMOV, TS, M2TS, and OGG files
Link:k-lite mega pack (you don't need to run the scan just go to direct download 1)

VLC
this last option is not a media pack but a full media player. instead of downloading codec's this media player has them all built in. the vlc media player has the ability to play all media types it even has the ability to repair damaged or corrupted media files.
plays:AVI, MKV, MP4, FLV, OGM, MPEG, MOV, HDMOV, TS, M2TS, and OGG files
Link:VLC media player

Note: all codec and media players work on mac as well as PC