Convert video into format which is most likely playable on a windows system

I have some flv and mp4 videos, which I need to convert to a format which is playable on an a Windows Vista system (for a presentation). The problem is, that I cannot test the videos on the system on the presentation. I guess that no additional codes are installed on the windows system. I am not sure if vlc is installed.

So the problem is to convert the videos to an format which is most likely causes no problems on an partially unknown windows system. What would you suggest?

Please provide the exact parameters for ffmpeg or mencoder or avidemux (whatever you want).

Edit Just realized that I also need to specify an audio codec (for example in avidemux), so which one should I use?

Solution 1:

For compatibility, MPEG-1 is the best choice. An MPEG-1 codec has been included standard on Windows since at least XP SP2.

Solution 2:

Microsoft has released FAQ on codecs.

There are hundreds of audio and video codecs in use today. Some have been created by Microsoft, but the vast majority of codecs have been created by other companies, organizations, or individuals. By default, the Windows operating system and the Player include a number of the most popular codecs, such as Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video, and MP3.

Go figure.

As Kyle already said, MPEG-1 is the only option that's left for you. Note though that it has been developed in 1988 and the quality you'll get is ridiculously bad. As for audio, I'd use MP3 if Microsoft says it's supported – otherwise go for MP2.

For FFmpeg, that'd be:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v mpeg1video -q:v 3 -c:a libmp3lame out.avi

Replace the value in -q:v 3 in order to get different quality output. The higher this number, the worse the quality. Replace libmp3lame with mp2 for MP2 audio instead of MP3.