RE: Video conversion/compression
You're gonna need some type of video editing software. Pinnacle and Ulead make some inexpensive options. You can probably download a trial that will do what you want. You may also be able to purchase Quicktime Pro and output something WMP recognizes.
I'd try searching download.com as well.
On the other hand, you could just tell everyone to download Quicktime. Most people have QT, but I can't stand it myself, it tries to take over your settings even if you tell it not to start when windows starts. It also tries to take over your file associations. For those reasons, I stay away from QT as much as possible.
Kale