PC Doctor July 19, 2011

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Dear PC Doctor,

My friend sent me a short video in an email but my computer can't play it. I downloaded the file to my desktop but when I try to open it a window pops up saying that Windows can't open this file. Is there a way to play the video file? I usually don't have a problem with video files but this one says it's a .mkv instead of the usual .wmv.

            Ron

Dear Ron,

Yes, .mkv files aren't a native file to Windows so it doesn't know how to play them. However, it's easy enough to download the right software so you will be able to play the video file. One of my favorite (and free!) video players, VLC will play most any kind of video file you throw at it. Visit www.videolan.org/vlc to download it! If the movie doesn't start playing in VLC after you install it, right-click the file and choose to play it with VLC.

Tip: It will also play DVD's! One of the nicest features in it is to click on the Video menu button and select “Always on top” With this, I can still do things on my computer while watching my movies because the window for my movie always stays on top of everything else!

Enjoy!

            PC Doctor

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Until next time... happy computing!