Friend Can't Copy .mp3 files to his computer

[0AA Smith]

A friend of mine who's running WinXP (probably Home) says he was trying to
access .mp3 files on a FTP site, but got a message that said his computer
was not configured for .mp3 files. Does that sound logical? Or is it more
likely that some audio application that is set to default for all audio is
giving him that message? Does he need to do anything to configure his
computer for .mp3 files?

 

[Charlie Tame]

The file extension gives Windows a clue as to what the file is. EAV would be
a "Wave" file and MP3 would be a music file using MP3 compressions, so they
are both sound files but they are by no means interchangeable.

When you click on or attempt to download certain files Windows will look at
the extension part of the filename and try to find some program associated
with it to play it with. This is called file association. By default Windows
Media Player which comes with Windows is set up to play music files, but
this "Association" can be changed by the user or by installing other
software.

Usually the easiest way to reset these file associations is to double click
on a file of that type and when windows offers a choice of programs to open
it with check the box marked "Always use this program to open this type of
file". The setting should stick.

You can also right click on the file and maybe choose an option to "Open
with" a program Windows already knows about. Not easy to explain fully but
it sounds like you are close to the truth.

If not this see if you can get more detail and if possible an exact error
message... the exact wording sometimes "Rings a bell".

Charlie

 

[0AA Smith]

Thanks for your feedback on this question. After a bit of trial-and-error,
my buddy got his computer to accept and play .mp3 files on WMP. We're still
not sure why he got the "not configured" message, but he's not getting it
now. That's one message I've never seen before.

Again, thanks! Have a great day.

 

[Matt]

Was your friend trying to open files over FTP or download them (right-click
and choose "Save as...")? FTP doesn't work well with plug-ins like HTTP
browsers do, so trying to play or open through the FTP browser window is
problematic.