Question about Real Player Alternative

[Gary]

Hi All,

I noticed that Real Player Alterntive was delisted from the 1995 Priceless
List.

Is there any problem with installing Real Player Alternative on XP Home
rather than installing Real Player? There are spyware issues with Real
Player that I wish to avoid, if possible.

On http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005MULTIMEDIA.php it says that
it is not necessary to install Real Player first and that Real Player
Alternative can be installed by itself wtihout any files from Real Player.

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM
files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work?

Thanks for any comments.

Gary

 

[macrobert]

Hi Garry - I agree about Real Player which is why I have been using
Real Alternative for years now on a couple of systems both running XP
and never had any problems with it.

Red

 

[Gary]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in

Hi Garry - I agree about Real Player which is why I have been using
Real Alternative for years now on a couple of systems both running XP
and never had any problems with it.

Red

Thanks Red,

I appreciate your comment.

Gary

 

[Harvey Van Sickle]

On 19 Dec 2005, Gary wrote

(e-mail address removed) wrote in


Thanks Red,

I'll second that; I use it on Win98SE, but friends I've
recommended it to have had no problem running it on XP.

Voice of experience, though: keep your Real Alternative codecs
updated. A couple of times I've been to sites which have made
noises about my not having RealPlayer installed, and I've wondered
if they've sniffed out that I was using Real Alternative

Updating the Real Alternative codecs, though, has solved the
problem every time I've bumped into it.

 

[The Seabat]

Where are you getting the Real codecs from?? The only solution I've
been able to find is to install Real Player and then 'turn it off' so
that the codecs are still available. How do you update your RM
codecs??

 

[Harvey Van Sickle]

On 20 Dec 2005, The Seabat wrote

Where are you getting the Real codecs from?? The only solution
I've been able to find is to install Real Player and then
'turn it off' so that the codecs are still available. How do
you update your RM codecs??

I just update from the "Real Alternative" distribution site --

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

Hi All,

I noticed that Real Player Alterntive was delisted from the 1995 Priceless
List.

Is there any problem with installing Real Player Alternative on XP Home
rather than installing Real Player? There are spyware issues with Real
Player that I wish to avoid, if possible.

Sypware is the least of it! Once Real Player has been installed, chances
are that you'll have to reformat your hard drive in order to completely
uninstall it. It takes over your computer and embeds itself
astoundlingly deeply into your operating system. Shockingly deeply.
Unconscionable programming.

On http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005MULTIMEDIA.php it says that
it is not necessary to install Real Player first and that Real Player
Alternative can be installed by itself wtihout any files from Real Player.

This note is correct. The name of this is not Real Player Alternative:
it's _Real Alternative._ Real Alternative is not a player: it's a codec
file set.

Real changes their routines fairly often. I believe this is to make it
harder for their content to be hacked into the open. RP's behavior is
very suspicious: it claims that it needs to phone the mother ship almost
every week to "download new software." I mean, what the hell??? What
I've experienced is, in fact, that content is frozen when the streams
are encoded for uploading. No new technology will be required to play an
existing stream. Maybe for newly-established content providers, but I
think that's it.

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM
files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work?

Real Alternative is usually bundled with Media Player Classic. MPC is a
player that works with many formats, but needs the extensive RA file set
in order to decode real files. It's a big load of files because in my
opinion, Real virtually takes over your computer. However, I have been
using RA/MPC for at least two years, and it does not seem to be abusive
in any way.

There are probably other media players that'll interface with RA. I
recall that JetAudio works with them, too. I felt that JA was very
nicely designed, slicker than MPC. But I believe that JA comes with
Digital Rights Management, so this, to me, puts it in the class of
invasive spyware.

Don't misunderstand me: I believe that everyone should pay the
performers for the fruits of their labors! But DRM is punitive and I
won't allow it on my system.

Hopefull, there are additional well-behaved players that'll work. Anyone
know of any?

Please go back through this newsgroup for the last year or so for
extensive discussions about how this works and what people have done.
However, what's in this thread should be adequate.

Richard

 

[John Corliss]

Hi All,

I noticed that Real Player Alterntive was delisted from the 1995 Priceless
List.

Is there any problem with installing Real Player Alternative on XP Home
rather than installing Real Player? There are spyware issues with Real
Player that I wish to avoid, if possible.

On http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005MULTIMEDIA.php it says that
it is not necessary to install Real Player first and that Real Player
Alternative can be installed by itself wtihout any files from Real Player.

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM
files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work?

Thanks for any comments.

Gary,
Coincidentally, I just formatted my hard drive and upgraded to XP
Home SP2 from scratch. One of the first programs to get installed was
Real Alternative 1.46. It also installed Media Player Classic and I let
it because to me, that program does the best job of playing DVDs.

Go with it!

As for the full blown RealPlayer, there's no way I'd put that garbage on
my worst enemy's computer. Well, that is to say.... 80)>

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls and other such idiots. No adware, cdware,
commercial software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware,
shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez
please.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Gary,

Is there any problem with installing Real Player Alternative on XP Home
rather than installing Real Player? There are spyware issues with Real
Player that I wish to avoid, if possible.

On http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005MULTIMEDIA.php it says that
it is not necessary to install Real Player first and that Real Player
Alternative can be installed by itself wtihout any files from Real Player.

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM
files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work?

*****************************************

I'm kind of a newbie at all this audio and streaming stuff and I'm
running Windows 2000 Pro without Real Player (because I can't afford
it). I told my Guru that I am sick and tired of not being able to play
the files and streams that I find on websites and he suggested that I
load the following software:

Codec Package for WMP 6.4.exe:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx

WMP 9 series runtime.exe (AKA wmfdist.exe):
http://www.video-converter.net/faq.htm#8

klmcodec145.exe (AKA K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.45):
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm
(The klmcodec145.exe includes Media Player Classic, Real Alternative,
Quicktime Alternative, BS Player and more codecs than I ever knew
existed. The installer also has an option to check for updates
automatically.)

Zinf
http://www.zinf.org/download.php
"The Zinf audio player is a simple, but powerful audio player for Linux
and Win32. It supports MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, WAV and Audio CD playback,
SHOUTcast/Icecast HTTP streaming, RTP streaming, a powerful music
browser, theme support and a download manager."

Now I have freeware that will play EVERYTHING that I find, and Zinf
will even RECORD what I play!

Hope this helps!
Happy Hoildays Bro!

 

[Mister2u]

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM

files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work

http://quinnware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4393&highlight=real+audio
http://quinnware.com/

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

Gary wrote:

As for the full blown RealPlayer, there's no way I'd put that garbage on
my worst enemy's computer.

But _I_ would put Real Player on my enemy's computer.

Heh heh heh.

Richard

 

[John Corliss]

But _I_ would put Real Player on my enemy's computer.

Heh heh heh.

As I said "Well, that is to say...."

80)>

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls and other such idiots. No adware, cdware,
commercial software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware,
shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez
please.

 

[George]

I like Real Alternative also. I refused to install Real Player because
of its obnotious charateristics, although I don't think it actually has
spyware. The Real Alternative is part of the K-Lite Mega Codec pack
that is regularly updated. You might want to check out my review at:

http://georgeh123.blogspot.com

If you install the Mega Codec pack, there is very little streaming
video that you won't be able to play. You will need to keep Windows
Media Player though to have all the codecs you need.

George

 

[Margrave of Brandenburg]

I like Real Alternative also. Agreed!

I refused to install Real Player because of its
obnotious charateristics.

Agreed!

But how do you get browser support for Real Alternative.
I can't play .rm files on web sites.

 

[Tomguy]

I like Real Alternative also. I refused to install Real Player because
of its obnotious charateristics, although I don't think it actually has
spyware. The Real Alternative is part of the K-Lite Mega Codec pack
that is regularly updated. You might want to check out my review at:

http://georgeh123.blogspot.com

If you install the Mega Codec pack, there is very little streaming
video that you won't be able to play. You will need to keep Windows
Media Player though to have all the codecs you need.

George

I ran across a new player in a forum a few days ago. I downloaded the
player and am quite impressed with it. Only one slight problem: The
player is not fully translated into English. Other than that, it works
for most files. I am particularly impressed that it loads my pctv and
captures TV in avi format. MSPlayer tries to do this, but I haven't had
much luck with it. KM Player reads all kinds of formats, including QT and
RealPlayer. I haven't tried it with all of them, but those I have tried,
it worked. It also has a bunch of skins (I hate most skins with various
players -- I like basic with obvious buttons).

http://www.kmplayer.com/

Check it out if you are looking for an all-in-one alternative player. It
is freeware.

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

Real Player is a weapon in search of an enemy.

Richard

 

[SinisA]

Hi All,

I noticed that Real Player Alterntive was delisted from the 1995 Priceless
List.

Is there any problem with installing Real Player Alternative on XP Home
rather than installing Real Player? There are spyware issues with Real
Player that I wish to avoid, if possible.

On http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005MULTIMEDIA.php it says that
it is not necessary to install Real Player first and that Real Player
Alternative can be installed by itself wtihout any files from Real Player.

There are some web sites that have archived their audio files in RM and RAM
files and these are the audio files that I wish to play. Is there any other
media player that will play these files if Real Player Alternative doesn't
work?

Thanks for any comments.

Gary

Many guys here already told you about Real Alternative, but there's also
another solution. on this address:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp_install.shtml

you can find version of Real Player made especially for BBC. It's free of
spyware and other crap and works well.

 

[Gabriele Neukam]

On that special day, SinisA, ([email protected]) said...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/audiohelp_install.shtml

you can find version of Real Player made especially for BBC. It's free of
spyware and other crap and works well.

Interesting. How did they manage to do that?


Gabriele Neukam

(e-mail address removed)

 

[canetoad]

I like Real Alternative also. I refused to install Real Player because
of its obnotious charateristics, although I don't think it actually has
spyware. The Real Alternative is part of the K-Lite Mega Codec pack
that is regularly updated. You might want to check out my review at:

http://georgeh123.blogspot.com

If you install the Mega Codec pack, there is very little streaming
video that you won't be able to play. You will need to keep Windows
Media Player though to have all the codecs you need.

I found that the Real and QT alternatives bundled in the Mega Codec Pack
did not work properly on all files.

The solution was to uninstall all, then install the stand alone versions
of _RA_ and QTA, followed by the Codec pack.

 

[Ian Jackson]

On that special day, SinisA, ([email protected]) said...


Interesting. How did they manage to do that?


Gabriele Neukam

(e-mail address removed)

I've been following all the complaints about Real Player, and its
anti-social behaviour. I was going to comment that the version which I
have never seems to be doing any spying and the like (at least Zone
Alarm never indicates anything untoward). However, I did download it
via the links from the BBC website, so maybe that explains things.
Ian.
--