I was going to install K-Lite Codec Pack and was told "Don't get codec packs, they totally screw up your DirectShow graphs. Ugh. Never install a codec pack. Ever."

First off.. what does that mean ?

and is it true ? Sounds bad..

When you install from one of these codec packs you could well cause yourself problems, either my overwriting already installed codecs or by installing crap ones.
I believe that the k-lite packs are reasonable but I would prefer to install specific codecs as & when I need them.
What do you want the codecs for? Have you a video file (avi) that require a particular codec for you to watch/convert it?

Steer clear of codec packs, they often install far too many old/defunct/useless codecs which clash or replace codecs they shouldn't.

Instead if you get media you cant play then get hold of GSPOT and only install the codecs you actually need.

The number of friends/family systems I've had to fix because they installed a codec pack is almost uncountable. Often they screw up DirectShow and sometimes parts of DirectX that no codec should have no reason to touch, and more often than not the only way to fix it is either a lot of "merit" editing or a reinstall of windows.

Good advice. G-Spot will tell you the codec required to play a specific file. And while K-Lite isn't bad as codec packs go (curses on the Nimo Codec pack! ), most noobs install everything, which is inadvisable. Codec Sniper is kinda useful to see what codecs are on your system, which are okay and which are not (it'll kill those for you). Get it here:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Codec_Sniper

I prefer installing K-lite and after that I install every version of divx from 3.11 via 4 and 5 to 6, and after all xvid. all of these codecs overwrite the same installed with K-lite. So far everything is perfect and I keep doing this for quite a lot of time... it may sound a little stupid but every movie i put in my pc is recognised and played with no problems. i've forgot to say that i always use latest version of ffdshow filter...

It's unanimous then - don't do it.
Also get avicodec as it will help you find the required codec to play/convert the video file.
Just getting codec sniper for myself.

I should add, if Codec Sniper finds a "broken" codec, you oughta Google for info on it before killing it. Unless you're certain about it. Just a cautionary note for anyone following this thread. From what I've heard, it'll kill the really stubborn ones that you just can't get rid of. Ever had one of those?

BTW, I've used it with success a couple of times.