There have been many recent comments left here and other places around the Internet, especially under popular topics (2Girls1Cup for one), directing you the user to an off-site website that claims to have hard-to-find videos for you to watch, if only you install their codec "for security reasons" or whatever.

For those who don't know, a codec is simply a program that allows popular media players, such as the Windows Media Player, Quicktime, or Real Player, to play a different kind of video or multimedia file.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem. There are many websites--trustworthy websites--that host videos. Unfortunately, many of the websites that require a codec embed (hide) spyware and other viruses in the program that you unwittingly install on your computer. They won't tell you this, of course, and your first clue that something is amiss is when your computer starts behaving badly.

The best advice regarding codecs is not to install them in the first place. The three media players I mentioned play almost every multimedia video that is worth watching. Even the videos that the scammers use to lure you can be found elsewhere on the Internet and won't require any special codec to view.

If you have already installed the codec and your computer is acting up, there are many free online anti-virus scans you can run, but you should always have up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on your computer. If you don't, why not take a few minutes of your time and download them now.

So, please keep your eyes open and be wary of anyone claiming to have a video that you need to install the codec from their site to watch.