Codec Woes: WMP11 Plays Fine, VMC Doesn't

Ok here are the related (and maybe unrelated video and audio codecs I have installed in my system):

CoreAVC
Haali Meedia Splitter
AC3Filter
Xvid
Illinimible Ogg Codecs (Used with WMP Extended Tag Support to get FLAC in WMP11 and VMC)

I also have these media players installed on the computer:
WMP11
VMC
Media Player Classic
Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 Ultra

Here is what I can currently do:
Play VIDEO_TS in WMP11 and VMC
Play Divx in WMP11 and VMC (Most include AC3 audio with no problems)
Play Xvid in WMP11
Play H264 in mp4 container in WMP11
Play x264 in MKV container with video but NO audio in WMP11

Here is what I want to do:
Play Xvid in VMC
Play x264 in MKV container with AC3 audio in WMP11 and VMC. Right now the video playback will be smooth (With no audio) until a random sound artifact is heard (A very short bad scratchy sound) at which point the video begins to lag for about 10 seconds.

Currently I believe that CoreAVC is set as "preferred codec" and after that I'm unsure of my settings.

As an update I downloaded graphedit and opened one of the x264/mkv files. I get an error upon opening it saying "some of the streams in this movie are in an unsupported format." In addition the Haali media splitter is no where in the codec chain. When opening a h264/mp4 the Haali media splitter is the first thing in the codec chain and I do NOT get error messages.

As another update the x264/mkv files play just fine in Media Player Classic, but WMP11/VMC is needed for interface reasons.

Any help would be AWESOME.

Hmmm I'm not sure why that would explain why MPC can play the files but VMC cannot?

Ok I uninstalled PowerDVD and now the H264's wont play audio either. Haali media splitter shows only 1 stream being output (the other is non existent or stopped).
They still play fine in MPC.

Installing FFDShow doesn't help either.

Haali Media Splitter was uninstalled/reinstalled to double check all format types were selected.

Another update:
Uninstalled PDVD8, Haali Media Splitter, CoreAVC, AC3Filter, and Xvid.
Installed CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack).
Good Results:
Playback of Video_TS, Xvid, Divx, H264/mp4, x264/mkv with video and audio in WMP11!!!
Bad Results:
Vista Media Center no longer recognizes Divx and Xvid videos and thus will not add them to library. Subtitles are always set to default on (can be shut off but needs to be done every time). Also even DD/DTS encoded audio tracks play back as 2 channel no matter what I mess with in FFDShow (What CCCP uses).
The verdict:
Reformating HDD, going to start over with CoreAVC, Haali, Xvid and AC3Filter as they SHOULD work.

Please somebody help me.