Can Media Player 10 play media?

[Sunny]

I was using whatever version of Media Player was installed with XP Pro
SP2, and it mostly played audio and video just fine. The other day I
foolishly accepted Media Player's offer to 'upgrade' itself to version 10.

Since then it only pretends to play audio and video - progress bar moves
along, graphic eq display does it's thing, CDDB information is retrieved
and displayed etc. etc. - but the video display window remains black and
the speakers are silent.

Third party media apps like Winamp and Quicktime still work, so it's not
a big deal, but I'm not keen on applications that consume hard drive
space yet don't offer any useful functionality.

Can Media Player 10 actually play media? If so, I'd appreciate
suggestions as to why my copy doesn't.

Assuming Media Player can be made to work, is it also possible to
convince it that my CD-ROM supports digital playback? Digital worked
under NT4 using Media Player, but under XP Pro it claims the drive
doesn't support digital. Roxio software can do digital under XP, but I'm
getting really tired of my optical drives disappearing every few days as
the procedure to restore them (delete the registry 'filters', reboot,
reinstall Roxio, reboot) is a PITA.

Better yet, is there some combination of software that meets the
following, IMHO quite reasonable, requirements:

- Works on XP Pro
- Can visibly display common video formats
- Can audibly play common audio formats
- Can play audio CDs digitally
- Does not cause optical drives to disappear or stop functioning
- Does not require regular reboots, registry edits, or reinstallation
- Is free or reasonably priced, but does not include adware or spyware

?

TIA

Sunny

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Visit the "Official" Windows Media Player Newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsmedia.pl­ayer

Windows Media Player FAQ
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/player/faq.aspx

Windows Media Player: WMP mini FAQ (Excellent Site!)
http://www.nwlink.com/~zachd/pss/pss.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I was using whatever version of Media Player was installed with XP Pro
| SP2, and it mostly played audio and video just fine. The other day I
| foolishly accepted Media Player's offer to 'upgrade' itself to version 10.
|
| Since then it only pretends to play audio and video - progress bar moves
| along, graphic eq display does it's thing, CDDB information is retrieved
| and displayed etc. etc. - but the video display window remains black and
| the speakers are silent.
|
| Third party media apps like Winamp and Quicktime still work, so it's not
| a big deal, but I'm not keen on applications that consume hard drive
| space yet don't offer any useful functionality.
|
| Can Media Player 10 actually play media? If so, I'd appreciate
| suggestions as to why my copy doesn't.
|
| Assuming Media Player can be made to work, is it also possible to
| convince it that my CD-ROM supports digital playback? Digital worked
| under NT4 using Media Player, but under XP Pro it claims the drive
| doesn't support digital. Roxio software can do digital under XP, but I'm
| getting really tired of my optical drives disappearing every few days as
| the procedure to restore them (delete the registry 'filters', reboot,
| reinstall Roxio, reboot) is a PITA.
|
| Better yet, is there some combination of software that meets the
| following, IMHO quite reasonable, requirements:
|
| - Works on XP Pro
| - Can visibly display common video formats
| - Can audibly play common audio formats
| - Can play audio CDs digitally
| - Does not cause optical drives to disappear or stop functioning
| - Does not require regular reboots, registry edits, or reinstallation
| - Is free or reasonably priced, but does not include adware or spyware
|
| ?
|
| TIA
|
| Sunny

 

[Sunny]

Visit the "Official" Windows Media Player Newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsmedia.pl­ayer

Windows Media Player FAQ
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/player/faq.aspx

Windows Media Player: WMP mini FAQ (Excellent Site!)
http://www.nwlink.com/~zachd/pss/pss.html

Thanks - the links did not provide information on getting media player
10 to play media instead of pretending to, but the instructions for
restoring the previous version were clear, concise, and successful.

I guess that answers my original question - in the negative.

I also learned why my CD-ROM cannot be used for digital playback under
XP: Microsoft deliberately de-supported drives which aren't fully
MMC-compliant - rather annoying since my older 40x SCSI CD-ROM drives
perform all other tasks flawlessly under XP and can be expected to
continue to do so for some time to come.

So the other question remains: is digital audio CD playback software
available for XP that doesn't require regular registry edits, reboots,
and reinstallation?

Sunny