[Cabranth]

Hello.

I've only had Internet service for about 6 months. When I first went on-line it seems(if I remember correctly) that the video I watched, was all played by my Windows Media Player. In the last month or two, however, whenever I try to watch video on-line REALPLAYER opens instead.

I really prefer the WMP program for personal reasons and was wondering if there was any way to make it so this REALPLAYER thing wouldn't run instead of my WMP.

Or is it that there is stuff on-line that can ONLY be played by RP, and by complete chance, for about two months EVERYTHING I've tried to watch is only playable by RP?

Also when that REALPLAYER thing pops open it ALWAYS says it has updates to download, which makes me want to avoid it like the plague.

If this has been discussed somewhere else already I'm sorry but I couldn't find it.

Thanks.

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go her and get real player alternative

http://www.free-code...Alternative.htm

then remove realplayer from your computer...the alternative will handle anything that relplayer can without trying to use all your resources..
you should also get the quicktime alternative too

http://www.free-code...Alternative.htm

Edited by happyrck, 18 May 2006 - 08:25 PM.

[happyrock]

go her and get real player alternative

http://www.free-code...Alternative.htm

then remove realplayer from your computer...the alternative will handle anything that relplayer can without trying to use all your resources..
you should also get the quicktime alternative too

http://www.free-code...Alternative.htm

Edited by happyrck, 18 May 2006 - 08:25 PM.

[Cabranth]

Hello happyrck.

First: This answers none of my questions.

Second: Why should I use these apps instead of Windows Media Player? I LIKE WMP.

Thanks for the reply, anyway.

[Retired Tech]

Open media player, click tools, options, file types, click select all, click apply, close media player, play a file

[warriorscot]

^^^ that should work it will reassociate the file types to WMP there are still some files that only play on real player, real player alternative or media player classic thinds like the RMVB format which is an amazing vid format.

Real alternative is lighter on resources than realplayer, i guess happyrck is not used to people wanting to use WMP most want to chuck it for something simpler and better, although im being pleasantly surpirsed by the new WMP11 beta its quite good.

[Cabranth]

Hello Keith and warriorscot.

First: Keith. What exactly are you telling me to do? Could you please preface instructions to me by explaining them? I'm NOT an advanced user. Most of my 8 or 9 years of experience of having a PC only dealt with getting my games to run better and basic computer maintenance. I have had no formal(or informal) training or instruction in this stuff.

Second: warriorscot. Are you saying there ARE video files that are RP exclusive, but that SOME of the video I've been trying to watch should have been playable in WMP? Are you saying that my WMP has been hijacked by RP? If so, how? How do I reverse it? The instructions posted by happyrck?

Again, I've only had internet service for about 6 months. I'm a NOVICE.

Thank you both for the replies.

[happyrock]

IMHO real player in adition to using way to many resources ...trys to take over ...the alternative player does not...you can try the alternatives I suggested and if they dont perform like you want you can alwayes uninstall them and put real and quicktime back

[Retired Tech]

Basically you would reset media player as the default player for all file types, with the exception of files like quicktime or real player, when you opened files of those types those players would start

There isn't a preface, open media player, along the top you will see tools, click that, then options then file types, click select all, click apply

[happyrock]

here is what the EULA license agreement analyzer had to say ...I only got the summary...if you want the whole thing ...download real player and act like you are going to install it...when you get to the EULA copy and then paste it here..
http://www.spywaregu...ze/analyzer.php

heres the short version

note...7676 WORDS...LOWER # MEANS IT HARDER TO READ..Flesch Score 19.05 ...HARVARD LAW REVIEW IS ONLY 30
As a rule of thumb, scores of 90-100 are considered easily understandable by an average 5th grader. 8th and 9th grade students could easily understand passages with a score of 60-70, and passages with results of 0-30 are best understood by college graduates. Reader's Digest magazine has a readability index of about 65, Time magazine scores about 52, and the Harvard Law Review has a general readability score in the low 30s.

Title: real player


Scoring Metrics
Number of characters: 46499
Number of words: 7676
Number of sentences: 259
Average words per sentence: 29.64
Flesch Score: 19.05
Flesch Grade: 18 : Beyond Twelfth Grade reading level
Automated Readability Index: 22 : Beyond Twelfth Grade reading level
Coleman-Liau Index: 22 : Beyond Twelfth Grade reading level
Summary

14 characteristics flagged:
Characteristic Sentences Flagged
Reference to tracking or monitoring. 6
Removal: Reference to removal restrictions or procedures. 1
Reference to removal restrictions or removal rules by third party tools. 1
Reference to settlement of claims by arbitration. 6


Flesch Reading Ease

One of the tests is known as the "Flesch Reading Ease" test. Higher scores indicate material that is easier to read; lower numbers mark harder-to-read passages. The formula for the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) test is

206.835 - 1.015 \left ( \frac{\mbox{total words}}{\mbox{total sentences}} \right ) - 84.6 \left ( \frac{\mbox{total syllables}}{\mbox{total words}} \right )

where total syllables/total words = average number of syllables per word (ASW) and total words/total sentences = average sentence length (ASL).

As a rule of thumb, scores of 90-100 are considered easily understandable by an average 5th grader. 8th and 9th grade students could easily understand passages with a score of 60-70, and passages with results of 0-30 are best understood by college graduates. Reader's Digest magazine has a readability index of about 65, Time magazine scores about 52, and the Harvard Law Review has a general readability score in the low 30s.

This test has become a U.S. governmental standard. Many government agencies require documents or forms to meet specific readability levels. Most states require insurance forms to score 40-50 on the test. The U.S. Department of Defense uses the Reading Ease test as the standard test of readability for its documents and forms. The test is so ubiquitous that it is bundled with the popular word processing programs KWord and Microsoft Word; however, Word only uses a scale of 0-100.

This score is affected significantly more by long words than grade level is.


NOW ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT THIS ON YOUR COMPUTER

[happyrock]

and now for WMP


Microsoft Media Player "Security Patch" Changes EULA

from the under-the-guise-of-security dept.

MobyTurbo writes "In an article on BSD Vault a careful reader posts that in the latest Windows Media Player security patch, the EULA (the "license agreement" you click on) says that you give MS the right to install digital rights management software, and the right to disable any other programs which may circumvent DRM on your computer." So if you want your machine secure, you also want microsoft to have free reign on your PC.

and this
MS security patch EULA gives Billg admin privileges on your box


If you caught our recent coverage of the Windows Media Player trio of security holes you may have followed a link to the TechNet download site for a patch, or you might have activated Windows Update. If you did the former (though, oddly, not if you did the latter), you would have been confronted with an End User License Agreement (EULA) stating, most ominously, that:

"You agree that in order to protect the integrity of content and software protected by digital rights management ('Secure Content'), Microsoft may provide security related updates to the OS Components that will be automatically downloaded onto your computer. These security related updates may disable your ability to copy and/or play Secure Content and use other software on your computer. If we provide such a security update, we will use reasonable efforts to post notices on a web site explaining the update."

"Reasonable efforts to post notices" somewhere on the Web. I think it's clear from the wording that MS has absolutely no intention of bringing this behavior to our attention.

Instead, Microsoft has just assumed the right to attack your computer and surreptitiously install code of its choosing. You will not be warned; you will not be offered an opportunity examine the download or refuse it. MS will simply connect remotely and install what it will, or install it secretly when you contact them.

This means MS will have administrator privileges on your personal computer. What they feed you may be infected with viruses; it may break your applications, corrupt data files, destroy weeks or months or even years of work, but you'll have no recourse if it does. By downloading this WMP critical security patch, which you must do to operate WMP safely, you'll agree to give Billg deed and title to your personal property and to leave Microsoft immune from legal retaliation if they damage your machine.

http://www.theregist...tch_eula_gives/

[Cabranth]

Hello happrck and Keith.


Keith: Thank you for the elaboration. It really helps clear things up. Thanks also for the exacting detail in your instructions. I may be ignorant of a lot of this, but clear instructions I can handle.

happyrck: Thank you for the exhaustive dissertation on the potential perils of WMP and RP. You certainly did your homework on these! I will try the alternatives you suggested, but what I'm wondering is this: If these two programs(especially WMP) have such openings to remote intrusion, aren't there like a gozillion other openings just like them in the O.S. and other common programs? If I guard myself against these vulnerabilities what good will it do to be open elsewhere?

[happyrock]

just use everything at your disposal to defend your computer and a little commen sense will do wonders...keep your system updated and run your tools regularly and you shouldn't have any problems

[warriorscot]

WMP is relativley safe real player ive never really trusted, i use media player classic for vids it plays everything including real player only files what to do is get the klite mega codec pack with that you can play any file that can be played on a media player. I dont like WMP as a rule but 11 is really good you should give it a try you can always switch back, although i might switch back to winamp i might not if the full WMP11 is as good as the beta looks.

[happyrock]

to warriorscot...have you run the EULA thru the anaylzer..?