How to Play MPG Files on Windows 8 and 8.1?

Windows Media Video (WMV), developed by Microsoft, is a video format natively supported by Windows. Therefore, you can convert MPG to WMV for playback on Windows.

All you need is a simple video converter like WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory. It converts video formats quickly and easily while maintaining high quality. You can download download the software and follow the steps below.

Step 1. Launch the software and open the “Converter” program. Next, click “Add Files” to import the unplayable MPG files.

Step 2. Click the format image on the right side of the program to open the output format page. Under the “Video” tab, select WMV as the output format.

Step 3. Select the output folder at the bottom of the converter and click “Run” to start conversion.

Tips: In addition to WMV, you can also convert WMV to MP4, H264, AVI, and other formats supported by Windows.

Codecs are important, media players require codecs to play media files smoothly. Since Windows 8 and 8.1 lack the MPEG-2 codec, you need to install an additional MPEG-2 codec (also known as a DVD decoder pack) to enable MPG video playback.

K-Lite Codec Pack is the most popular and free codec pack that contains almost all codecs to meet various media playback needs. You can solve MPG playback issues by installing this codec pack. Here is how:

NOTE: You should close your media player before installing the codec pack so that the changes are applied correctly.

Step 1. Go to the K-Lite Codec Pack official website https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm and download the standard version of the K-Lite Codec Pack to your computer.

Step 2. Click on the downloaded .exe file and complete the installation. (Be careful not to click on the bundled software by mistake during the installation process)

Step 3. Now, try to open the MPG file and see if there is any problem.

Some people have reported issues when using the K-lite codec pack. If you're worried about it messing with your system, you can upgrade to Windows 10 and install the official MPEG-2 video extension from the Microsoft Store. Or you can also try the first method or use the next solution.

Although the native media player on Windows 8 and 8.1 does not support MPG files, you can switch to a third-party MPG player to play MPG easily. The most recommended option is VLC media player. It is a free, open-source program that can play almost any video and audio file out of the box. All you need to do is download VLC, drop your MPG video into it, and start playing.

In addition to VLC, you can also try out other MPEG-2 players such as MPC-HC, PotPlayer, GOM Player, MPV, etc.

Starting with Windows 8, Windows no longer supports the MPEG-2 format. However, you can still watch MPG videos on Windows by converting the format, installing codecs, and using third-party players. That's all I want to share. I hope this article was helpful to you. Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!

1. Can Windows open MPG files?

Windows can open MPG files that contain MPEG-1 encoded video, but cannot open MPG files that use MPEG-2 encoding due to the lack of an MPEG-2 video decoder.

2. Can VLC play MPG files?

VLC is a universal media player that can play all kinds of videos, including MPG files, without any problem.

3. Why is my MPG file not playing?

There could be a variety of factors:

1. The format is not supported.
2. The media player is missing a codec.
3. The file is incomplete or damaged.