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Get Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player Help

Selecting A Connection Speed

Select LOW if your Internet connection is:

  • 64Kbps ISDN
  • 56Kbps modem
  • 33.6Kbps modem
  • 28.8Kbps modem
  • 14.4Kbps modem

Select HIGH if your Internet connection is:

  • T-3 or greater
  • T-1
  • Cable modem
  • ADSL
  • Frame Relay
  • 128Kbps ISDN

Frequently Asked Questions

Click a question to view the answer.

Question:
Video looks horrible during play back, it's splotchy, has random flashes of pink or green, or otherwise just plain looks bad.

Answer:
This problem is usually associated with certain video card drivers that have difficulty with certain direct draw features that the Microsoft Media Player takes advantage of. Often times simply updating the drivers for your video card will correct the problem. In the event that it does not correct the problem here are some additional steps that may help.

  1. Open a Stream in the Media Player.
  2. Click the File and click Properties.
  3. In the properties dialog box click the Advanced tab.
  4. In the Advanced Properties dialog box select Video Render from the list of filters in use and click the Properties button.
  5. In the Video Render properties dialog box click the Direct Draw tab.
  6. In the Direct Draw properties dialog click to clear the check box next to YUV Flipping.
  7. Click OK, you will receive a warning indicating that you must close and restart the Media Player before the changes will take affect.
  8. Close and restart your Media Player.
  9. Verify that the change has corrected your problem. In the event that it does not repeat steps 1 - 5 and for step 6 clear all the check boxes next to the Direct Draw features. Then continue with steps 7 - 8.

Question:
I can access some sites but not others, why?

Answer:
Most likely you are behind a firewall that has not had the appropriate ports open for use with NetShow. The Microsoft Media Player does supports what is referred to as protocol rollover. If the Media Player detects that it is not able to use the normal protocols to receive the stream it will attempt to use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to receive the stream. HTTP is the same protocol that web browsers use to receive Web pages. Most firewalls allow HTTP traffic through, however in order for the Media player to use HTTP to receive a stream the NetShow server you are receiving the video or audio from must have HTTP streaming enabled. If the site you are attempting to pull content from does not have HTTP streaming enabled, you will not be able to view the content unless your administrator opens the appropriate ports on the firewall.

Question:
How do I configure Media Player to use a Web proxy?

Answer:
To configure your Media Player to use a Web proxy, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Microsoft Media Player.
  2. Click View and then click Options.
  3. In the Options dialog box click the Advanced tab.
  4. In the Advanced Options dialog box click to select "Streaming Media (NetShow)" from the list and then click Change.
  5. In Advanced Playback settings look at the Protocols section. Verify that HTTP is selected. If you know that your Web browser is configured to use a Web proxy, click to select Use Browser Settings. Click OK.
  6. Click OK to return to the Microsoft Media Player.

Question:
I cannot hear the audio on some clips, but other clips I can.

Answer:
This could be a number of issues; few can be corrected on the client side. Here are a few suggestions to verify that the problem you are seeing is not a client problem.

Verify that you have the correct and current drivers for your audio card. Using the incorrect drivers or out-of-date drivers can often result in unexplained behavior. Use the steps below to check the sampling rate used in the ASF file.

  1. Open the stream that you are having difficulty with in the Media Player.
  2. Click File and then click Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box click the Advanced tab.
  4. Look at the list of codecs in use to see if you can determine the sampling rate used for the audio. Some video cards are incapable of playing audio content created using a 8Khz or 16Khz sampling rate.

Question:
I can hear audio but it hisses, pops, sounds scratchy, or some times drops in and out.

Answer:
Verify that you are using the proper and most up to date drivers for your sound card. Microsoft NetShow uses standard Windows compression codecs to compress and decompress the audio. When you have poorly implemented or incorrect sound card drivers installed you may experience unpredictable results when working with compressed audio. Many users live with bad drivers unknowingly for a long time because all of the system sounds included with the Windows operating systems are uncompressed audio files. These files often will play correctly with bad or mismatched drivers. This problem is not unique to NetShow, virtually any multimedia program that uses Windows sound codecs and compressed audio files would exhibit similar behavior. For example, using a sound card based on the ESS chip set, which has SoundBlaster functionality, and using SoundBlaster drivers rather than the ESS AudioDrive drivers could produce these symptoms.

Question:
I am playing a 28.8 media clip, but the frame rate looks really low.

Answer:
This can be due to either network congestion or the actual bit-rate of the ASF file being to high to be streamed over your Internet connection. When either of these conditions occur the Media Player will communicate to the NetShow server that it is not receiving all the data that it should be receiving. In an attempt keep the player from having to stop and re-buffer the ASF file the server will use a technology called thinning. Thinning is a method the server can use to decrease the bit-rate by lowering the frames-per-second that are streamed to the player. If the server and Media Player did not use thinning instead of a lower frame rate you would see the Media Player enter a never ending cycle where it plays a few seconds of video, stops and buffers for a few seconds and then plays what it has buffered again.

Question:
Why is it that I can use the Seek Bar, Fast Forward, and Rewind on some NetShow content but not on others?

Answer:
To use the Seek Bar, Fast Forward, or Rewind controls when viewing NetShow content the file must be indexed. This must be done by the administrator of the NetShow server.

Question:
Can I save an ASF file to play it back later?

Answer:
Currently you cannot use the Media Player to save an ASF file to your hard drive. You can add a link to your favorites much like you add a Favorite in Microsoft Internet Explorer by following these steps:

  1. Open the stream you would like to create a Favorites link to.
  2. On the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites.
  3. In the Add Favorites dialog box click OK, this will add a link to the ASF file in the Media section of your Favorites folder; it can then be accessed using one of the following methods:
    • If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and the Active Desktop you can click the Start button, click Favorites, and click Media.
    • In Microsoft Internet Explorer, on the Favorites menu, click Media.
    • In Microsoft Media Player, click Favorites.

Windows Media Player System Requirements

The Microsoft Windows Media Player is available for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (x86) and DEC Alpha, Windows 3.x, and Macintosh. A Unix player will be available soon.

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 (x86)
Minimum Requirements:
Pentium 90 MHz with 16 MB of RAM, 16-color display card , 16-bit sound card, 28.8-Kbps modem (optional for local playback), Windows 95 (audio, illustrated audio, and some video).
Recommended:
Pentium 120 MHz or better with 32 MB or more of RAM, 256-color display card or better, 28.8-Kbps or better modem card or Ethernet card, Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT Server or Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3 (audio, illustrated audio, and video).

Windows NT 4.0 on Digital Alpha
Recommended:
DEC Alpha 1000a 5/300 with 64 MB RAM or more, 256-color display card or better, sound card supported under Windows NT (alpha), 28.8-Kbps or better modem card or Ethernet card, Windows NT Server or Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack.

Windows 3.x (Beta Player)
Minimum Requirements (audio only):
486/66 processor, 8 Mb RAM, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, sound card and 14.4 baud Modem.
Recommended:
P75 Processor or better, 16+ Mb RAM, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, sound card and 28.8 baud modem

Minumum Requirements (audio and video):
486/66 Processor, 8 Mb RAM, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, 28.8 baud modem, sound card, video card, Video for Windows.
Recommended:
Pentium 90 processor or better, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, 16+ Mb RAM, 28.8+ baud modem, sound card, video card, Video for Windows.

Macintosh (Beta Player)
Minimum Requirements:
Macintosh PowerPC 601 or newer with Mac OS 7.6.1 or newer, Open Transport 1.1.2 or newer, QuickTime 2.5 or newer, 32 MB or more of RAM, 15 MB of free hard drive space for install, 256-color display card or better, 28.8-Kbps or better modem card or Ethernet card.
Recommended:
Macintosh PowerPC 604 with Mac OS 8, 16-bit color display, and all other components listed above.

NOTE: Microsoft strongly recommends upgrading to MacOS 8 due to improvements in Open Transport.