***Updated codec sources***

Possibly because the codecs that are used by the avi file are not compatible with Power2go.

The term "AVI" is a type of "Container". These containers (avi, mpeg, mpg, mov...etc) contain audio and video. The audio and video tracks are encoded or compressed using a specific technology or codecs. Different codecs can be used for different containers and some can be used for several different containers. To make matters even more complicated, different companies create different codecs to do the same thing...sometimes better in terms of quality and speed.

You can (using XP) right click on some of the "Containers" or Video/Audio files and select "Properties" and "Summary" to see the codecs used.

Example:

Container: AVI
Video Codec: Huffyuv
Audio Codec: Lame MP3

Container: MPG
Video Codec: MP2
Audio Codec: Lame MP3

Now for AVI containers, there are probably a half of dozen current used codecs for the video track.

For instance:

XVID
DivX
Huffyuv
Microsoft Windows Media WMV
Intel
Cinepak

So, it's possible that Power2go doesn't support all of them. To do so, would require Cyberlink to pay for all the technology/licenses. Very few inexpensive programs will have all codecs as part of the package.

I'm not sure if Power2go has the necessary "built in" codecs or if it uses the ones installed on your computer's OS.

One thing you may want to try is to make sure you have the current set of codecs installed on your computer. Here is a link to a package of codecs that are free that you can install:

http://www.codecs.com/download/XP_Codec_Pack.htm (the playback basic ones)

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm (the full set for both playback and authoring/recording)

If the AVI video codec is based on WMV or Microsoft Media Player, then you'll need the latest version of Media Player to get the necessary codecs. Read on this here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/format/codecdownload.aspx

If that doesn't work, then you will have to wait for a better answer here and/or contact support directly.

As a final solution (if nothing else works), you could convert your AVI to an AVI with codecs that Power2go can use. There are some freeware programs that will almost convert anything to anything. One such program that's still in the works is: MediaCoder or Super Both are not very user friendly, but with experimentation, they work.

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html (current program is new and has problems)

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/ (use only the stable version)