CodecViewer

CodecViewer is a very simple application that does nothing more than to show you the codecs you need in order to play a certain video file.
Since it's supposed to perform such a simple task, CodecViewer boasts only a minimal interface that comes down to a single window with no complex visual elements.
It's just a basic Windows interface that shows you the information you're looking for, so everything's easy when it comes to CodecViewer.
Of course, although CodecViewer is so intuitive, beginners may have a hard time reading the information the application displays and, since there's no help file included in the package, you should have a look on the web for more details.
As said, CodecViewer has been designed with a single goal in mind: to show the necessary codecs for playing a certain file.
In this regard, the main window prompts you to pick the location of the file and, after a quick scan, it shows the audio and the video codecs that your system needs to play the selected file.
Additionally, CodecViewer also identifies installed codecs, but there are no integrated features to manage the files stored on your machine.
Of course, since CodecViewer is such a basic application, it doesn't need more than minimal hardware resources to work properly.
All in all, this is a quick way to find out the necessary codecs for a given video file, but users may feel the need for more options, including direct download links for the missing codecs.