How to get my Nikon J1 to work?

So I was told that the reason why I record videos on my Nikon J1 and they don't work on my computer is because my computer has 4GB memory and that I would need a computer with more space. But isn't there a way to get the videos to play on my computer without getting another one with bigger space?

What a lot of intelligent but uninformed people do not understand is that making videos requires three things (other than a good script).

1) a camera to record the raw footage of the video.
2) a computer which a high speed CPU (Intel i7 would be best), a lot of RAM and a couple of huge hard drives (1 tb or larger)
3) at least a video editing program like Adobe® Premiere® Elements 10.

It seems you only have one piece of the video puzzle

4Gb of memory is enough to get a video to play but it might be choppy. Also, you don't need to buy a new computer to get more memory. You can buy RAM memory cards and add them into your computer.

It sounds like you don't have the appropriate software, drivers, or both installed on your computer. I would suggest that you re-read the camera manual and if you still have issues then contact Nikon at 1-800-NIKON-UX (1-800-645-6689)

EDIT: One of the CDs that came with the camera is Short Movie Creator. It should have everything you need to view the videos, even if it is slow and choppy.

My computer already had a fast Quad core CPU, but in order to have smooth videos on my system, I had to upgrade the following: the memory from 4Gb to 8Gb, video to a fast 1024Mb video card, a 500w power supply (for the video card), and a decent sound card.

If your computer can't play GTA4 or BlackOps (or similar) on high graphics without lagging, it will give you issues trying to edit videos.

Also, as Ace said… You need plenty of hard drive space. I have two 1Tb drives in the computer and several more external drives.

It should be able to play no matter how much ram you have, it would be just slower that's all. By the sound of it, you don't have the right video codec to play it. VLC player is one of the most versatile players out there, it can play almost anything.

Give that a try (it's free) and see if it plays.

BTW can the video play on you're camera?

Your issue is a proper codec to play the video. As the previous poster suggested, download and install VLC. It's a free program and plays most video formats. It knocks the socks off of most payware video player programs. I'm guessing your camera uses H.264 video format which isn't well supported in an out of the box modern Windows operating system.

For playback, memory shouldn't be an issue unless you are starved for memory. I can play videos fine on my old computer which has 1GB memory (about 800MB free) on Windows 2000.

There's no problem with your computer. The problem is the codec needed to play your video is not installed in your computer. Look at the video file. Check the extension at the end of the filename (after the period). Let's say it's.avi. Go to the internet and download an avi codec. Install to your computer then try to play the video. If it works then good. If not, look for another codec. It's the same if the audio does not work. The video codec should include that too.

If all else fail, download VLC media player. It's free. It comes with its own codecs so you don't need to download anything more. The only problem with this solution is that you won't be able to use or play the video with other video software in your computer.