downloaded avi. file - won't open... help please!

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OnceBitten

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#140709 18-Feb-2014 10:52

I've downloaded a file and the file extension is avi.z01
I go to open it and says "Windows cannot open this file"

Use the web service to find the correct program
or
select a program from a list of installed programs

I've tried to open this Windows media player or VCL media player, but it won't open or recognise the file.
is there some other media type player I can download that will open and play the file?

any advice will be helpful!

Virgil

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#989524 18-Feb-2014 10:55

Looks like it could be part of a multi-part ZIP file - is there another file AVI.ZIP, and AVI.Z02, .Z03, etc?

If you unzip the main (.ZIP) file, the other parts will automatically extract.

Cheers

Lurking ...

wellygary

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#989526 18-Feb-2014 10:57

Try this

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+a+.z01+file

gehenna

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#989527 18-Feb-2014 10:58

Or just change the extension to .avi instead of .avi.z01 and try running it. If it works it means it's just a badly named file. If it doesn't work then Virgil is right and it's likely part of a multi-part archive so you'll need all the parts before you can extract it.

Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

jevvv

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#989534 18-Feb-2014 11:08

gehenna: ... Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

Or a smaller part of a larger file.

I've seen several avi's which are made available as smaller parts that need unzipping with something like 7zip which reassembles them.

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OnceBitten

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#989539 18-Feb-2014 11:26

gehenna: Or just change the extension to .avi instead of .avi.z01 and try running it. If it works it means it's just a badly named file. If it doesn't work then Virgil is right and it's likely part of a multi-part archive so you'll need all the parts before you can extract it.

Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

I will try and change the file type to .avi and see if that worls

yes it is part of an old 1975 movie - I'm not even sure what part I have downloaded... but there were several files there to download and all had an .avi extension

gehenna

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#989548 18-Feb-2014 11:38

jevvv:
gehenna: ... Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

Or a smaller part of a larger file.

I've seen several avi's which are made available as smaller parts that need unzipping with something like 7zip which reassembles them.

Well yeah but even the mkv files I download up around 5-10GB all come in a single file, not an archive. Seems like it's only rare old stuff that people ever bother to archive, because usually the files were made available for download in the dark ages of dialup.

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ubergeeknz

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#989550 18-Feb-2014 11:41

OnceBitten:
gehenna: Or just change the extension to .avi instead of .avi.z01 and try running it. If it works it means it's just a badly named file. If it doesn't work then Virgil is right and it's likely part of a multi-part archive so you'll need all the parts before you can extract it.

Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

I will try and change the file type to .avi and see if that worls

yes it is part of an old 1975 movie - I'm not even sure what part I have downloaded... but there were several files there to download and all had an .avi extension

You will need all the parts... then unzip the first one, the rest will also uncompress and you should end up with a single file.

jonb

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#989562 18-Feb-2014 11:53

OnceBitten:
gehenna: Or just change the extension to .avi instead of .avi.z01 and try running it. If it works it means it's just a badly named file. If it doesn't work then Virgil is right and it's likely part of a multi-part archive so you'll need all the parts before you can extract it.

Must be some obscure content if it's an avi in an archive...

I will try and change the file type to .avi and see if that worls

yes it is part of an old 1975 movie - I'm not even sure what part I have downloaded... but there were several files there to download and all had an .avi extension

Once all the parts have fully downloads, right click on one of them and choose 'Extract All', or if you you 7-zip installed, right click and select 7-zip -> Extract All.

OnceBitten

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#990708 19-Feb-2014 19:51

jonb:

Once all the parts have fully downloads, right click on one of them and choose 'Extract All', or if you you 7-zip installed, right click and select 7-zip -> Extract All.

thanks I have downloaded all the parts now and will see if that works

OnceBitten

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#990828 19-Feb-2014 23:06

OnceBitten:
jonb:

Once all the parts have fully downloads, right click on one of them and choose 'Extract All', or if you you 7-zip installed, right click and select 7-zip -> Extract All.

thanks I have downloaded all the parts now and will see if that works

well the file came through and as I went to play it the sound came out but no picture - windows media player said s codec file was missing, so I then had to download Divx and went to play the file and it opened fine in DivX player...

robjg63

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#990873 20-Feb-2014 07:38

I think you said you had VLC media player. That would probably play it straight off. It seems to just play pretty much everything.

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#990899 20-Feb-2014 09:06

Yup, use VLC, handles pretty much everything out of the box :)

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jevvv

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#991094 20-Feb-2014 13:35

Well done on getting it sorted

VLC or GOM usually play most video files

<- don't ask me where I am - I haven't a clue: its a tech thing ;)
Housewife computerer: not particularly great at either.
And don't take me too seriously.