tivo files wont play but dvd's do?

[wmgoat]

I have several PC systems at home, and on only 1 of them, tivo files will not play. The same files play just fine on my other systems.

Ive messed around with codecs on the non-functioning system for ages now based on posts Ive read here in the forum, and cannot get it to work, with any player, TDMC included. (and ive tried all the codec settings in TDMC as well - video just is scrambled like its severely pixel-lated).

Im using microsofts XP Video decoder checkup utility to swap between codecs for system default settings. Even Dscaler 5 wont work with tivo files.

Im under the impression, maybe incorrectly, that if a DVD will play, a tivo file should play because both use the same codec. And WMP 10 plays DVD's just fine, so does sonic's cineplayer. (Ive got Roxio 8 on the system)

Short of shooting the system and putting it out of its misery, does anyone have any suggestions around this that wont cost me anything? (Dont want to use the tivo desktop plus codec because I dont need the extra features in plus and Ive never needed it before - my tivo files work on my other laptop and desktop systems. BTW, Im using tivo desktop 2.5.1 on the system that wont play the tivo files. Its an xp pro machine with 2G ram and an athlon 2800 proc, and a 160G harddrive, nvidia graphics integrated on the mobo)

[ThAbtO]

www.cole2k.net is where I got my codec.

[ggieseke]

It sounds like something in the actual decryption of .TiVo files could be causing the problem, not the codecs. You could test that theory by using DirectShow Dump to create a .MPG file on the bad PC, transfer the decrypted file to a good PC, and see if it's scrambled. Don't use TivoDecode for the decryption - it doesn't use the DirectShow decoder that Desktop installs at all.

If the decrypted file is still scrambled, the problem is in Desktop. Use the Cleaner utility with the /all option to make sure that every trace of the old version goes bye-bye before installing a clean version. If you stick with 2.5.1 don't forget to also install the certificate update.

If the test file is OK you're back to codec hell, and the only other thing I can think of is experimenting with the Video Acceleration settings in WMP.