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AVI file burned on a Mac, won't play on a PC

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I've seen many threads that start with 'I burned an AVI file from my PC and it won't play on a Mac'. Usually the threads come to a grinding halt as soon as someone says 'download Perian'. Problem sorted. I never thought I'd have the problem in the other direction.

I have an AVI file (originally from a PC), which I then burned on a blank CD (standard issue, 50 on a spindle type of thing) on a MBP running 10.5.6. The file wasn't tweaked or edited at all. I played it once on the Mac to see if it was working. So far, no problems.

Then I drag and drop and use the system's 'burn' facility. I finish burning, once again plays fine on the Mac from the CD. And then something weird happens. It won't play on a PC. WMP gives sound but no pic, QT7 for the PC gives a white screen and no sound or audio.

It's been the proud boast for a while now that CDs burned on a Mac are no longer 'Mac CDs' that are unreadable by PCs. And indeed, the CD itself will open, but the AVI file won't play.

I don't get it. If it was initially a PC file (from a mate, I don't possess a PC) and it wasn't interfered with by the Mac, merely burnt from one, shouldn't it play on a PC as it's still the same file?

I've tried changing it from AVI to .mov, but even with that QT7 on the PC won't recognize it. Weird.
 
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Perhaps the PC you are trying to play it back on doesn't have the required codec installed, but the PC it came from did. Of course, that then begs the question: What codec is this AVI file encoded with? DivX? XviD? Any of the dozens of others out there? In Windows, if you right-click on the AVI file and look at its properties, I think you will find details on what codec was used.
 

vansmith

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It could very well be a codec issue, which is what it sounds like. Try installing DivX and XviD. If need be, you could always re-encode it with something like Handbrake into a format that you know will work.
 

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