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Hi, I'm trying to go through all my old computer games, Titanic, Creatures etc... sad, I know LOL.
But I'm getting the message that Windows Media Player needs a codec. There are a lot of websites offering codecs but how do I find what I really need - without downloading something that will cause me problems? Please does anyone have a link that will take me straight to what I need?

My guess is they are dos games and they are trying to be ran in media player, if that is the case, try downloading a program called "dosbox", it will allow you to play the older games through it, there are many tutorials online on how to use it if you google it up, and there are probably instructions on its site too, just look for the download button at the top of the page. you can find dosbox here - http://www.dosbox.com/

If you are not actually trying to play them and you are trying to do something on media player, then you probably need the cccp (combined community codec pack) once you have installed that, your pc will be able to play nearly any video file known to man. you can find that here - http://cccp-project.net/

oh thanks for that - I'll have a go. I'm not actually wanting to play them but I'm trying to make sure they'll be useful to someone else. I need to get rid of a load of discs now, they're taking over! LOL
The one I have in my hand is a CD-ROM for Windows 3.1/95/98 and Macintosh. It installs but then the monitor goes black and I have to re-boot.

Ah right i see, well in that case they will be of use to somebody somewhere (probably collectors more than anything to be honest, try searching ebay and amazon to see if anyone is selling them and for how much because if they are originals u may find some of them are worth more than you thought) the only reason they are not working for you is because your computers operating system (Windows/Mac OS/etc.) is far too new to be compatible unless some other software (such as the previously mentioned dosbox) is used to run them correctly once installed.

Thanks for that, I guess they're going to take forever if I try to test them all. Someone will have to take a chance on them when I've sorted them out. Your help is much appreciated.

You should be able to run them in compatibility mode, which is a standard feature in Windows Vista and 7. I have the original Red Alert running fine and well on Windows 7.

I'm running XP - just my luck