With Vista Codec Package installed you won’t need to install any other codecs”, boosted developers of Vista Codec Package, which now has been updated to version 4.5.4 Beta 1. Vista Codec Package (VCP) intends to have least amount of codecs on your system that ‘just-enough’ to all your playback need, as when dealing with codecs, more does not equal better and having the least amount on your system is the best configuration. By installing Vista Codec Package, users can play any media files – audio, music, MP3, movie and video – on any media player without restricted to using a specific player. Windows Media Player (WMP) and Vista MediaCenter will be able to play all your files too.

Codecs have been a problem for most users at one time or another.

This is because there has never been an ‘out of the box’ working solution that the average computer user could install and just have everything work properly from the beginning. There are several decent codec package solutions out there, but none of them did everything I wanted. I was always in need of a tweak, adjustment, or even a re-installation just to get the codecs I needed/wanted and most of the time, the file still didn’t play properly. I’ve never claimed to be a media guru. My media experience prior to creating these packages was to doubleclick a file I downloaded and hope that it played. So with the help of the MSFN community, I decided to package up the bare minimum of codecs required by most computer users and share them with the rest of the world. With this package installed all possible conflicts are already dealt with. You won’t need to make any adjustments to enjoy your media content immediately.

Many user suggested settings are implemented as defaults.

It does not contain a media player and it does not associates filetypes. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players’ capabilities, to play DVD’s, movies and video clips of almost any filetype. Streaming video is supported in several formats in all popular web browsers. Users of VCP have the ability to choose what is installed and where to install it using the public redistributable. After installation you can select to remove specific portions without removing the entire package. You can also re-add the removed items at any time. Future releases will recognize previous installations and offer to upgrade them.

Download Vista Codec Package 4.5.4 Beta 1: VistaCodecs_v454B1.exe (no longer available – Vista Code Package has been further updated to support Windows 10 and beyond)

Note: Uninstall older version of VCP and any other codecpack before installing. Upgrading is not supported. Although named as “Vista” Codec Pack, it actually works for Windows XP, Windows Server 2000, 2003 and 2008 too.

Changelog for Vista Codec Package vesion 4.5.4 Beta:

  • add shortcuts for broader MKV playback
  • add shortcuts for mpeg2 decoders (.ts)
  • update ffdshow 1604 (mutithreaded h264)
  • improve RealMedia browser support
  • remove all QuickTime components
  • maintain MOV and 3GP playback without QT
  • offer QuickTime Lite for VCP separately