My Windows Media Player is not playing mpeg and mpg files.

[wumply]

But in the list of files it "can" play, the mpg box is checked. There is no mpeg box (that's a Unix extension, right)? (I'm running XP. ) Windows Media player has no trouble playing the avi file.

Now, when I click on the mpg urls and the mpeg url in the list below, each one downloaded and then presented me with a blank page with a tiny icon in the upper left corner (which I've often seen) and which I will describe: It is a square containing a red square, a blue triangle and a green circle.

OK. 2 questions:

1. What, exactly, does the appearance of that icon tell me?

2. Is there something I need to do with Windows Media Player to get it to play both mpg and mpeg files?

3. Is there some way to play those files if Media Player won't? I do not have any reason to believe there is anything wrong with the files themselves, for their source (Steve Bass who writes for PC World and runs the Pasadena IBM Users Group [pibmug]) often sends such files to those on his list.)



Files for November
================


Like you were wondering?
http://www.pibmug.com/files/numberplate.jpg


Larry Ellison reacts to Gates's recent court victory
http://www.pibmug.com/files/gatesface.mpg


What, me worry?
http://www.pibmug.com/files/exam.avi


My chainsaw's bigger than your chainsaw (Really)
http://www.pibmug.com/files/ultimatechainsaw.mpeg


A well done car commercial
http://www.pibmug.com/files/ravcar-ad.mpg


Remember those company safety films?
http://www.pibmug.com/files/nailgun.mpeg


Throw the ball, willya?
http://www.pibmug.com/files/swimdude.mpeg

John

[Reverend]

John,do you have DIVX installed?

WMP,may not be playing the files because the correct codec is not installed.

If you don't have DIVX,you can download it here (http://download.divx.com/divx/DivX502Bundle.exe).

[wumply]

Hi Reverend:

Well, I found some DIVX stuff in files I had carried over from an old computer and stuck in a folder called "Old Drive." I got rid of them...after a bit of fussing--weird behavior and "corrupt" messages. But they are all gone and I did not have any DIVX on my current XP computer.

So I downloaded and installed DIVX without a hitch...except that the movie files I wanted to play wouldn't. Just a blank page with that little icon I described appeared. Those files were in several urls (links) in an email letter, by the way.

What can I try now and what does that little icon indicate?

John

[egghead]

hi:

i tried your links and mpg played fine

i had a blank page with avi

i suggest you right click the link and save the file to the harddrive
next
right click the file and choose open with....
important!
select choose program
select windows media player and select always use this
from the large list of programs

if you dont select choose program and simply choose media p[layer it wont give the option to always select media player and it will mess up again on the next file

great videos btw

[Big Booger]

When the latest media player won't play files, I use the legacy player located in the same folder as the latest. Just right click the windows media player icon, select properties, the select find target. Once in the media player folder you will see the icon to the legacy 6.4 media player. You can right click it and send a copy of it to the desktop for easy viewing later. The try to open your media with it.
If that doesn't work, try using the divxplayer, or another freebie.
I recommend the following site for freebie players to help play your media,
http://www.zdnet.com
hope that helps,
BB

[egghead]

i use 6.4 always to play my media instead of 8 or 9 or whatever the bulky key demanding father media player is at

nice suggestion bb

egghead

[wumply]

Hi Again.Thought you guys might be interested in what resulted as a result of your suggestions:

You said right click on the link (in the email
Save toHD
Then right click file, select 'Open with'
Select 'choose program'
Select WMP and "always use..."

Well, I could not do this from my Eudora email program. A right click there brought up the followiwng:

Transfer
Reply
Reply To All
Forward
Redirect
Make filter
View source
Send to browser
Message Plug-in
Delete
and 6 other options, all grayed out.

Oh well!

So I go to the site where the files actually came from...from where they got put in my email. I chose to download to my HD the gatesface.mpg file from:

http://www.pibmug.com/files/gatesface.mpg. It's there under the heading "Nov 7 Even better files..."

OK, I left clicked on it there and got the same result as when I clicked on it from my email letter. Just wanted to see if it would left click work there.

But from there I WAS able to download it to my HD (save target as) and then play it (following your suggestions.)

But when I wondered if it would NOW play from the link in my email and went back and left clicked to find out, it would not play...just got the blank page. with the tiny icon.

So I guess I'll try the legacy player and Divx or other freebies. BUT IT BUGS ME!

Thanks, Guys!

John

[wumply]

Hey, just tried the WMP legacy player. It wouldn't play the file I downloaded to my HD, but when I entered the url it played it just fine.

Hey, just watch that 8-cylinder chainsaw. WOW!

John

[Big Booger]

I would double check the options in your player to see if something is wrong..
Within windows Media Player, click tools, options, and then check the player tab, Make sure enable automatic codec download is checked, also check to see if acquire licenses automatically is checked, then you might want to check the network tab and make sure all of the protocols are checked.

Next you might want to see if your internet security settings are interferring with your ability to play media from links.
The last two things I would check would be any antivirus software that is set too strict causing the links to not work, as well as any firewall, either XP's internal, or a thirdparty or hardware based firewall. If you have any of those try to disable them as well.
Keep us posted.
BB

[wumply]

Hi:

Well, Windows Media Player is doing wehat it should be doing. How come? I simply have no final answer, just a logical likely explanation. It just all ofa sudden worked today when I went back to the site where the mpeg files were and clicked on the link.

But I was playing around yesterday with entries of programs in the Program Control tab or section of Zone Alarm and I made several changes. Too many to remember which ones or exactly what I did with a given program. My guess is I, without any intent to correct the WMP problem, changed things so that WMP COULD contact the internet...which would explain why - before - I could play the mpeg file when it was on my HD but not when I tried to access it from the site.

John

[wumply]

Afterthought!


But hey, if my explanation was correct, why, before, would it play an avi file from the site but not the mpg? Told you it was weird!

John