Problem with MKV files in Win7 and Win10

[souperzombie]

I upgraded my computer not long ago and now I'm having a lot of trouble getting MKV files to work. I'm using both Windows 7 and Windows 10, both on different drives, and they both have their own problems when trying to play them. I'm using both Shark007 codecs and Media Player Codec Pack as they have both worked very well for me in the past with no issues, allowing me to play MKV files in Windows Media Player without hassle, but I have had to reinstall both of them several times due to a few finicky issues, namely having stupidly installed the Advanced version of 007 codecs onto an old drive which I then removed, meaning I couldn't install it properly without it trying to upgrade a version that didn't exist anymore.

In the past I also converted the MKV files into MP4, since my video editor of choice doesn't support MKV files, using Any Video Converter free, as it has also worked very well for me without hassle. However it has since stopped being able to convert MKV files at all without crashing on both versions of Windows, and I need to be able to convert them to MP4 so I can use them in my various editing projects.

Additional details:

My MKV files are in 720p and 1080p quality, and all of them have subtitles which could be switched on and off in WMP without issue before I upgraded, IIRC, as well as converted in AVC to have separate MP4 versions with and without subtitles.

The MKV files do not have any details when viewing properties in Win10

In Win7, trying to play any of the 720p files EXCEPT ONE gives the error:
"Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or a required codec might not be installed on your computer". The single 720p file that works and the 1080p files play fine. Neither types have subtitles when played.

In Win10, 720p files either play sound but have no video (just a black screen) or do not play at all, 1080p files play normally, neither have subtitles.

Attempting to convert either of them with AVC in Win7 causes it to progress to about 1% and then crash with the basic "Any Video Converter has stopped working" error.

Attempting to convert with AVC in Win10 gives the error:
"Runtime Error"
Program: C:\Program Files (x86)\AnvSoft\Any Video Converter\AVCFree.exe

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information."

My craptop can play all the MKV files fine with subtitles as well as convert them with AVC. It is using an older version of Media Player Codec Pack but does not have Shark007 codecs installed. I have tried downgrading and uninstalling codecs various times on my current computer to no avail.

Any help getting this fixed would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[reedo_43]

VLC player...done

 

[souperzombie]

VLC player...done

It works at playing the files but it's much less convenient. It also doesn't help at all in converting the files, which I need to do. Now I've just got a new error when trying to convert them.

"Assertion Failed!

Program: ...
File: encoder/slicetype.c
Line:1938

Expression: cost >= 0

For more information on how your program can cause an assertion failure, see the Visual C++ documentation on asserts.

(Press retry to debug the application - JIT must be enabled."

Doing anything causes AVC to crash.

 

[tman1]

I use the combined community codec pack and have zero issues with Windows Media Player. Just make sure in Windows 10, you are using Windows Media Player and not that useless Movies app.

 

[reedo_43]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/gspot.html

I have found this program useful in the past.

 

[souperzombie]

I use the combined community codec pack and have zero issues with Windows Media Player. Just make sure in Windows 10, you are using Windows Media Player and not that useless Movies app.

I am using windows media player and CCCP makes zero difference in either Win7 or Win10. However, I have noticed that the files still play the same even when I uninstalled all the codecs I had installed on my Win10 side and restarted. However Win7 only gives me the long "Cannot play the file" error if the Media Player Codec Pack is installed. If it isn't it just gives me the generic "Windows Media Player encountered a problem while playing the file."
I still can't convert them either way.

 

[souperzombie]

I fixed my MKV issues with WMP, in Win7 at least (and some AVI related issues that arose randomly) by just using the recommended settings of Shark007.

I also tried out some different MKV converters, but they generally give me a very similar problem to Any Video Converter, which crashes when it reaches 1-2%. Handbrake, for example, gets to about 1-2% and then finishes, producing a broken file. I doubt this is a coincidence.

Update:
I found that all my MKV files, and the MP4 files that I converted them into, had very bad artefacts when they were played in any media player as well as when I rendered them in Sony Vegas, but not while I was actively editing/playing them in Vegas. I uninstalled my codecs and now they play fine, but unfortunately some of my footage is in some kind of h264-related AVI format (I think, I'm not good with stuff like that) that Vegas doesn't like, and as it turns out the video conversion issue is not exclusive to MKV files, but all file types, so I can't convert them to fix the issue.