What happens if you watch the video in another video player?

Could be a codec problem, although I have never heard
of this particular problem being caused by a codec.
What format is the video in.

Pooh Bear

I haven't tried another media player but the file is in WMV format.

If it's a new computer, call Dell and let them solve the problem. On the other hand, you could uninstall the version of WMP that is on your computer and go to Microsoft download site and download and re-install the latest version.

thanks I thought it could be an easy fix I will try calling Dell.

Hi waddles,
this is a common Codec issue, however can be also be related to graphics drivers. Do you have any other player installed? (You might not even realise you have, as just about everything includes a player these days, LOL) If so, try right hand clicking on the file and selecting the "open with" option. Expand the tree next to this and see if there is anything useful in there (Nero showtime, powerDVD, winDVD etc) and try one of those.

If you don't have another app installed try VLC, it's free and one of the best video players I found. It will play almost anything and requires no Codec's ;-) You'll find it at www.videolan.org

A word of caution though, like all media players when you install it, it will ask you which file types you would like to associate it with (.mpg .avi etc), until you are happy with it I'd suggest you say none and use the "open with" method I mentioned above. Once you've decided that it is indeed a fine player you can just re-install or manually associate the files.

I hope this helps, good luck with Dell if you try.

Regards

ChrisC.