thanx again.
i installed the divX5 bundle free of charge
via this website

www.xvidmovies.com
and now the .avi files play ok.
i also ran ad aware a number of times,
and hijack this as well, just to make sure
that no spyware arrived in the bundle. it all appears
clean as far as i can tell from the log.

browsing all sorts of help pages + forums this afternoon i
really did read, a number of times, of the divx codec being
bundled with spyware. whether there is any truth to that matter
or not...

best
s