I have some movies with .avi extension. My friend told me that AVI files can be played with any multimedia application like Windows Media Player 10, WinAmp and many others. But when I try to play it Windows Media Player 10 (default application for AVI files) says it can not play it because file might be corrupted or there is no codec installed. I doubt that all files are corrupted and, by default, AVI files should be played out of box. Can you help me with this one?
You probably have a codec issue. If I remember correctly DivX and XviD files also have .avi extension so you might be trying to play some of them and not plain and simple AVI file. Download some codec pack like K-Lite codec pack and install all codecs in it. Then try playing files. I bet you will be able to watch movie now.