H264 converters
 

Setting up my new PC, I have some H264 files from a mates surveillance vids. I would have thought Win 8 would be able to play them but it doesn't offer any help to find out why.

I downloaded some codecs from download.com, but they don't seem to work either (and I can't seem to see the codecs on the hard drive either...)

Any hints out there?

I have to make these H264 files viewable on PCs without this hassle...

Try VLC, since it uses its own codecs. Try not to download random codec pacs, that way lies madness... If the videos work in VLC, have it show you the codec information and report back, if you want.

one of VLC, Quicktime, or the K-Lite codec pack should resolve it - though some cameras require a specialist codec. H264 comes in many forms....

do you know the make / model of the camera?

You could try this to convert the files to something more playable:

Free Video Converter| Any Video Converter Freeware| MP4 FLV 3GP AVI MKV DVD Android Html5