[Retired Tech]

You opened media player then clicked tools etc and it is media player 10?

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Very sorry... I was clicking the TOOLS top left on browser page...I was not in WMP.

When I go to WMP, though, I see no TOOLS anywhere on it.


By the way, how do I access the player itself? I have no icon on desktop.

Thanks for any help.

[roppongi]

Very sorry... I was clicking the TOOLS top left on browser page...I was not in WMP.

When I go to WMP, though, I see no TOOLS anywhere on it.


By the way, how do I access the player itself? I have no icon on desktop.

Thanks for any help.

[roppongi]

Okay, I see how to get to the player...but there is no TOOLS.

[Retired Tech]

Top right, just left of minimize, restore and close in media player, there is a little arrow pointing down, click this and then click show menu bar, then you have file, tools etc

[gust0208]

Hello,

This has been an active thread! I checked out the website and the format of the streaming video file is *.asx which is a streaming file container for the Microsoft *.asf video file format. All the file does is basically tell what web address for your media player to connect with and what content to play. It is good that you double-checked that you have the latest WMP 10, but I was able to view the file with Media Player Classic as well. I will list the instructions on how to try it out with Media Player Classic to see if that works for you.

1) Go to the website you listed, click the "news" tab, and RIGHT-CLICK on the picture with the blue bar beneath it. When the little window pops up, select "Save Link As.." and save it to your desktop. The filename will look something like: p20051028_01.asx
2) Start up Media Player Classic (I will call it MPC for the rest of the instructions)
3) In the MPC window, click "File" -> "Open File" and browse to the file you saved in step 1. It should automatically connect and play the content
4) Another way to open files with MPC is to simply drag the file (hold the left mouse button) and drag it onto the MPC window! It will automatically open and play that file.

Let us know if you have any luck with MPC. I was able to play the content in both WMP and MPC.

We will figure this out, there are still a few more options to explore.

Cheers,
Tom

[roppongi]

Keith, thanks for the patience... I finally found what you were talking about, cut the acceleration in half, but it changed nothing in the player's behavior, so I reset to maximum acceleration.

Tom, I will download MPC today and try your directions. By the way, I have three or so ikons on desktop from experimenting with codec divx. Is it okay to erase all that stuff...unless you think the divx player might be handy for something....I do not know how to use it...what it would be good for, etc.

cheers, Jim

[roppongi]

Tom,

About your 'step #1,' when I right click on the picture, there is no "save link as." There is a
'save target to file' and a 'save picture to file.'

When I choose 'save target to file' a little box pops us and starts downloading some kind of file (without telling me how long it will take).

What should I do?

Also, how do you save something to desktop??


cheers, Jim

[gust0208]

Hello,

The exact wording depends on your web browser, and yes, you want the option that says "save target to file". A small box will pop up and start downloading the file, and that will occasionally happen when the server doesn't tell your browser how big the file is and thus your browser can't calculate how long it will take to download the entire file.

1) Right click and select "Save target as"
2) On that window that pops up, save the file to where ever you like, I find the Desktop easiest. To get to the Desktop, in that window that opens saying "Save Target As" should have a column of 5 large icons on the left side, you want the second from the top called "Desktop", click that and then hit the "save" button in the lower right corner.
3) Let the file download completely
4) Now you should be able to see the file on your desktop! Then you can follow the instructions from my previous post.

Cheers,
Tom

Tom,

About your 'step #1,' when I right click on the picture, there is no "save link as." There is a
'save target to file' and a 'save picture to file.'

When I choose 'save target to file' a little box pops us and starts downloading some kind of file (without telling me how long it will take).

What should I do?

Also, how do you save something to desktop??
cheers, Jim

[Retired Tech]

Hello Roppongi

If you can download the file as Tom says then there should be less problems playing it

My preference is to avoid saving anything to the desktop until it proves to run OK, if it does you can then send a shortcut to the desktop

[roppongi]

Thanks Keith and Tom...

Okay, I will try it. It's difficult accessing this site in the evening...must be very busy?

[roppongi]

Okay, Tom... I did not know how to do your step 3 .... did not know how to "browse" to the file I saved. However, step 4 was easy. I dragged the saved file into the MPC box and it took off.

However, this player acts just like the WMP. The little thing slides from left to right, but player is silent and no video.

Wow, this is depressing, huh??

Beats the devil out of me...

I hope you guys are learning something from this process of elimination. Can't say I'm any smarter, except I have learned a few things about moving around on the computer!

If you have any flashes of inspiration, I'd be glad to try it!

cheers, Jim

[roppongi]

Sorry about the double post, but I dd so because I see no response to the post above. In administrator's response to double post, I see I am directed to a response, but WHERE is that?? I do not understand how to navigate this site.

As for the VCL player recommended, I have tried for two days to download it. It always downloads to about 87% and totally stops.

This is a new computer, but it seems to have arteriosclerosis.

I have contacted E-machines support about the player problem, but they make general comments like, "Maybe your connection speed is not good." What control do I have over that? The dinosaur machine I had before this played streaming video just fine...connection speed or no connection speed.

I just don't get it. Any ideas out there? Any help appreciated. Jim

[roppongi]

Finally downloaded VCL player, but a box popped up on screen saying 'NSIS error: the installer you are trying to use is either corrupted or incomplete." So I removed the player.

ps. By the way, since this is about the fourth or so player recommended to me (and you guys can play the news site in question and I can't), is it fair to say it's becoming apparent my inability to play streaming video is not a player problem??

[Retired Tech]

This is a list of steps you can run through

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, all the files in the folder will now be highlighted, right click any file, click delete, a box will appear asking if you want to delete all the files, confirm the delete then reboot

Open the CD ROM Drive used to install Windows, insert the XP CD but leave the drawer open. Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter and close the CD ROM Drive drawer. You will get a blue progress bar, after the bar goes, reboot. This will check for and replace missing or corrupt system files.

You can check for an improvement after running sfc /scannow then after each step until you have run through them all, if necessary

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

If no change

Please go here to repair your operating system

Repair XP

If you are unable to run Repair XP

Alternate XP Repair Guide

Use the last one - Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running the repair it will be necessary to install all Windows Updates

The next steps are optional

Get the trial of Tune Up 2006 here

Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up, then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, open Tune Up, click optimize and improve, system optiomization to run, optimize the computer configuration, which needs a reboot

If you use accelerate downloads in system optimization, select the speed which is just above your actual line speed

[roppongi]

Thank you Keith. It will take me quite a while to do this process...first time.

By the way, there was no XP disk with this computer. I just turned on the machine and followed some on screen instructions.

How does absence of this disk alter your recommended procedure?

Any help appreciated! Jim