Windows Media Player 11 on XP - codec for MP4?

Every time I try to play an MP4 video in Media Player (which WinXP has set as the default MP4 player), I get the message that the file is unable to be played.

A search on the error message taught me that I am missing a codec.

Microsoft puts out a patch to allow playing MP4 files, but this patch is for Win Media Player 7 to 9 and Windows 98, ME or 2000. I tried to install it anyway, but it refuses to install on Windows XP.

I can view these MP4 videos with Apple's free Quicktime, but I like Media Player much more.

Is there a (free?) way to get the codec for MP4 installed for Media Player?

Thanks,
Joe

P.S. First post on this forum. I admit, that I did not filter through all of the readme file, all of the FAQ section, or follow through on all of the pages that came up from my search result. I did a little, though (probably more than most do), but I wasn't able to locate an answer.

MP4 is not a codec, it is a container. Different video codecs can be used in MP4 files including MPEG-4 (DivX, XVid,...), MPEG-4 AVC (x264),...

To watch MP4 as well as other most popular videos on your PC, I suggest you to install VLC player. It doesn't need any external codecs.

Also I used to install K-Lite Mega Codec pack. It allows you to watch MP4 and other the most popular video in Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic as well as many other players. The problem is that codec packs can cause problems to video editing software, video players,...

Thanks. I suppose I can stick with this VLC Player for now. It seems to be pretty good.