Reliable Codec Packages...
 

Just formatted a PC here and setup both 400GB HDs to Raid0 and since I'm beginning anew, I would like to know what are some reliable codec packages out there. Reason I'm asking was because one of the packages I downloaded in the past resulted in errors for every file opened with WMP. Be it, mp3 audio, video or streaming media. Hopefully I can avoid the problem this time around so what are your recommendations? :)

Snag one of the excellent K-Lite Codec Packs, they have worked perfectly on my machine. The Mega Codec pack includes alternatives to Real and QuickTime. I'd suggest going through and only picking what you're going to use, otherwise you'll waste space on codecs and utils that never get any use.
I recommend you check the following (on the Mega Codec Pack):
--Media Player Classic
--XviD VFW (not DirectShow) filter
--QuickTime and Real Alternative
--AC3 Filter
--FFDShow

I second the K-Lite pack.

Eww. It has too much useless stuff. Get the Combined Community Codec Pack.

And I'll second the Combined Community Codec Pack (with link, biggety bam, no more shit stains in your undies). I got this as replacement for I believe the K-Lite Codec Pack, which was originally a replacement for the Nimo Codec Pack at some point (or vice versa). But yeah, CCCP is the only best way to go.

Just select what you want and the K-Lite Pack will be all muscle and no fat. Really it doesn't take much to configure it properly.

Or save yourself the trouble and get the Combined Community Codec Pack. It even has a wiki.

OH BOY A WIKI, IT'S NOT AS IF ANYONE COULD HAVE THAT. AND AN EXECUTABLE SETUP PROGRAM IS SO HARD TO RUN.

I will, as always, throw out the recommendation for Defilerpak. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

That, or just use a player like VLC Player that plays everything by itself.

Just get ffdshow. It's like Defilerpak but without the useless junk. Plus, it's not an actual codec pack - which is a good thing if you ask me.

I really don't understand why people don't just use VLC. Not only does it work without any bullshit, but it'd save .torrent sites from having a million and one 'How I make movie play?' comments.

Yeah, but what happens if you come across a packaged format, like OGM or MKV.

The you have to find a suitable media splitter for it.

That's one way the packs are convenient, you don't have to search all around for everything you need.

Also, ffdshow is also installed with CCCP (but then again, what codec pack doesn't install ffdshow.)

FFDshow (and in a bigger sense, ffmpeg) is sort of the Gold Standard Of All-Purpose Decoders™. Hell, encoders even (though mencoder's right up there too). VLC uses it, most of the Windows codec packs use it... If I ever run into the guys who coded ffmpeg, I'm buying 'em all a round of frosty cold ones. Or, you know, their beverage of choice. It's the thought that counts.

CCCP, it simply has everything you'll need to play most mainstream media files on the net.

Also, I think the fact that FFDshow should be a prepackaged component or something has already been well established.

Yep, though I wish VLC and MPlayer would finally catch up at more advanced subtitle formats.

Uh, FFDShow DOES work with OGM and MKV. Subtitles, AVI splitters, the whole 9 yards with all the OGMs and MKVs that I have.

Both DefilerPak and CCCP basically installs the same core components: ffdshow, Haali's filter, and VSFilter; except CCCP also includes WMV9, Gabest's MPEG2 decoder (not sure why) and two DirectShow players.

CCCP is however, configured in a way so that all the components are fuctioning together in harmony with the players; though I do not know if DefilerPak is configured in a similar fashion. Therefore, I would recommend CCCP as the most compatible codec pack; but there would be nothing wrong with using DefilerPak, either.

Packs such as the K-Lite pack or Nimo should be avoided if possible. They install far too many codecs and filters which are also left with the default options, causing compatibility issues. It would be fine if one knew what they were doing and chose the correct components and configured it properly, but for the majority of people who just hammer Next at the installation screen it breaks compatibility.

VideoLAN is able to decode most formats without the hassle of installing anything else. (And because of this I found it the most versatile in Linux.) But I didn't like the fact that their subtitles were too plain and I never managed to get it to display a small border around the subtitles.

The reason they don't is that the "more advance subtitle formats" use vobsub for rendering, which isn't available on platforms other than Windows. Since both VLC and mplayer are open-source, cross-platform projects, they are committed to maintaining feature parity amongst all their binary distributions for different OSes. Until vobsub goes open-source/cross-platform, you won't see it in either player.

Besides, I like plain subs. :p

That's the thing though, I configure the Mega Codec Pack every time. The fact that I don't have to install the bloat of QuickTime and Real sold me on the idea of using K-Lite's Mega Codec Pack.

Me too (plain *.srt or good hard subs) but that's hardly the point, is it? ;)
When it comes to the little multimedia wonders from planet Windows, waiting for anything to go open source has almost never been an option. "Re-write from scratch" just happens to be the formula the Linux people archieved the most with up until now. It wouldn't hurt to write a completly new, open-source rendering engine for *.ssa and *.ass subs, the same way it didn't hurt to write a music player/media library that already surpasses the famed iTunes in many respects (I'm talking - of course - about amaroK).

Edit:
Oh and Wikipedia just tells me, the VSFilter is actually licenced under the GPL.

I was using CCCP and Defilerpak for a while but then when I tried using Virtualdub I found that mysteriously there was no way to encode anything in xvid or divx or whatever. What ever happened to all those encoder codecs I had when I had K-lite codec pack? Dunno but when I reinstalled K-lite codec pack again I was able to encode shit again.

So what codec pack out there will let me encode and decode all I need? I'm listening.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack should have all your encoding needs. Just disable any video codec related DirectShow filters (minus ffdshow, it shouldn't interfere with any video codecs), and then install the VFW versions of the codecs you want to use. Since I only use XviD, I saw no reason to go much further than that (I also installed the VFW version of DivX to get the v6 playback features).