Help with .mp4

[Alan Brookes]

The oomputer in my den crashed about two weeks ago and I had to reload Windows XP Pro. But now it won't play .mp4 files. Easy, I thought, just download an .mp4 reader from the internet. Unfortunately my internet no longer works, either.

So, here's my problem. My computer in my home office runs Windows 10. If I go onto the internet and download .mp4 drivers so that I can copy them over to my other computer it will try to load them onto my Windows 10 system, which I don't want. If I download the installation files and transfer them to my other computer they won't run, because none of those downloadable programs actually load directly, they load a link to the internet, which I don't have.

How do I download a standalone copy of an .mp4 reader that I can load onto a different machine? If I had the software on a CD it would be no problem.

I'll probably end up installing Ubuntu, which I have on a CD, as it comes with .mp4 drivers, but I would rather use Windows XP Pro. I cannot upgrade to Windows 10 on that machine as it has no internet access.

By the way, the machine actually has a wireless card which works, and the computer tells me that I am connected to the internet, but when I try to use it with AOL or Internet Explorer it won't give me access to the Worldwide Web.

[Dave Potter]

Issues having to do with video formats like mp4 usually involve codecs which are either present or not. Internet access" isn't required for a system to be capable of displaying mp4 video.

[Wiz Feinberg]

You probably don't have an mp4 player or codec installed on the XP computer. It never shipped with the OS, but belonged to Apple and Real Media as an audio-video codec.

You can install the missing codec by downloading the standalone installer for the "Quicktime Alternative 3.2.2" player, with or without "Media Player Classic."

The download link is near the bottom of the page. It leads to a page with various download links. You'll want either the "QuickTime Alternative 3.2.2" (full) or "QT Lite 3.2.2" version (no Media Player Classic).

Download and save the file or files to a USB thumb drive. If your W10 PC has a virus/malware checker, let it scan the file before you remove the thumb drive. Better safe than sorry.

Insert the thumb drive into the XP PC and run the installer for whichever version you chose. If you downloaded the full version, you can decide whether you want to install MP Classic or not. The Lite version doesn't contain the MPC.

Restart Windows to fully install the new Codecs (and optional Media Player Classic). You should now be able to playback anything that Apple's Quicktime could play, including .mov movies.

[Alan Brookes]

...You can install the missing codec by downloading the standalone installer for the "Quicktime Alternative 3.2.2" player, with or without "Media Player Classic."...

Thanks, Wiz. I tried that, downloaded it to a memory card, inserted it into the other computer and ran the installation. It stated that I need to remove Quicktime first, which I did. it then installed Quicktime Alternative with no problem. I rebooted the computer, but it still won't play .mp4 files. I must have done something wrong somewhere. I'll have to try it again.
On the same machine I installed Ubuntu as a dual operating system. I can run .mp4 files on Ubuntu, but not on XP Pro. Of course, they're on different sectors of the disk, so there's no crossover.
By the way, when I boot the computer it doesn't give me the choice of operating systems ...it goes straight into XP Pro unless I have the Ubuntu disk in the drive.