For a program that purports to help you find out what codecs are missing from your system, SuperEasy Codec Checker is woefully inadequate. It knew nothing about codecs even mildly off the beaten path such as OGG, Flac, and even common .FLV--this despite the codecs in question being installed on my system, and the company claiming to support them. Even worse, this free program was buggy, throwing .NET errors and ceasing to display its bitmapped buttons correctly.

You can get nearly the same information that's provided by SuperEasy Codec Checker by simply right-clicking any audio/video file within Windows, selecting properties, and going to the details tab. Even better, you can download the free VLC Player, which understands virtually every codec in existence. Not only does it provide the pertinent codec information, it plays the files as well.

The only reason to download SuperEasy Codec Checker is if you need to change the file header in 4CC video files and don't know how to do it manually (with a hex/disk editor such as TinyEdit or UltraEdit). I'd say this even if the codec checker had worked perfectly for me, especially in light of the stream of advertising for the company's other products at the bottom of the program window.

Note: This link takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

--Jon L. Jacobi