http://malektips.com/multimedia_players_help_and_tips.html Tips and tricks for various multimedia players including RealPlayer, QuickTime, Winamp, and Windows Media Player. en-us Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:19:56 GMT Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:19:56 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Custom webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) http://malektips.com/graphics/logo_88x30.gif http://malektips.com/multimedia_players_help_and_tips.html 88 30 http://malektips.com/media-player-12-border-color.html Instead of displaying black borders around videos playing in Windows Media Player 12, change the color to blue, green, or another of your choosing.

When playing a video in Windows Media Player 12, if it does not fit the entire window or screen it will be surrounded by black borders.

If you find this color boring and want to lighten up your mood with another color such as red or green, the following quick configuration does the trick:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:42:47 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-border-color.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-rate-media-files.html Rate groups of media files such as music albums, artists, or genres all at once.

If you like to rate media files such as music in Windows Media Player 12, you might find it cumbersome to manually rate each file individually. Is there a way you can rate all music files from a given artist or album, all videos with a given actor/actress, all recorded TV shows of a particular series, etc. simultaneously?

If there wasn't this wouldn't be much of a tip......

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:12:25 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-rate-media-files.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-burn-media-slower.html Force Windows Media Player 12 to use a slower burn speed to avoid errors when creating CDs and DVDs.

By default, Windows Media Player 12 attempts to burn CDs and DVDs as fast as possible. However, in some cases your media burner may not be able to handle the high speed transfer. Perhaps the media burner is rated for a specific speed but errors in workmanship prevent it from running successfully unless it burns media at a slower rate. Or you may be using CDs or DVDs that are rated for a slower burn rate than what the media burner can support. Thus you can slow down Windows Media Player 12's burn rate until you find one that works for your equipment / media.

1. In the "Library" view, click the "Organize" button, selecting "Options"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:52:46 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-burn-media-slower.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-now-playing-on-top.html Force Windows Media Player 12 to display on top of other windows when in its "Now Playing" mode.

If desired, you can have Windows Media Player 12, when in the "Now Playing" mode, appear on top of all other windows. This way you can continue to view album art or the visualization even when working in other applications that may attempt to cover up the window.

To configure this behavior, do the following:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:15:16 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-now-playing-on-top.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-menu-bar.html If you are used to working with the menu bar in older versions of Windows Media Player, show it in Windows Media Player 12.

Although buttons and other on-screen elements let you access features and customization options in Windows Media Player 12, are you used to working with the menu bar found in earlier versions of Windows Media Player? If so, here are two options for working with menus.

1) To temporarily show the menus, not as a menu bar but as a popup menu, just press the Alt key....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:03:31 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-menu-bar.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-navigation-pane-customize.html Configure which libraries such as Music, Videos, and Pictures should appear in Windows Media Player 12's Navigation Pane. Also toggle library views and Music Services.

If you find Windows Media Player 12's Navigation Pane too cluttered, you can configure which libraries are shown such as "Music", "Videos", "Pictures", and "Recorded TV".

You can toggle the display of views inside libraries such as "Artist", "Album", and "Genre" for the "Music" library. Plus, if you don't need the Music Services link at the bottom of the Navigation Pane that may show the Media Guide or Online Stores, turn it off....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 9 Jun 2009 20:21:26 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-navigation-pane-customize.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-video-size-keyboard.html A few keyboard shortcuts to adjust the size of a playing video in Windows Media Player 12.

Playing a video, such as a recorded television show, in Windows Media Player 12 and need to adjust its size? While you can make adjustments by right-clicking the video (most are available via the "Video" sub-menu), you may find these keyboard shortcuts easier to use:

Full Screen: Alt + Enter...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 8 Jun 2009 19:57:31 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-video-size-keyboard.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-buffer-additional.html Force Windows Media Player 12 to buffer up to a minute of audio and video when playing streams to avoid breaks in playback.

Are your video and audio streams played inside Windows Media Player 12 constantly starting and stopping? If so, you may have an inconsistent network connection to the remote site, or a connection to the Internet that varies based on area usage (such as a cable modem).

To counteract these problems you can force Windows Media Player 12 to buffer up to a minute of content before playback. While this requires extra time before streaming media begins to play, it should reduce, and in some cases for smaller length streams eliminate, re-buffering during stream playback....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:37:03 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-buffer-additional.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-screensaver.html Allow the current screensaver to appear while playing media files in Windows Media Player 12.

By default, when playing media files in Windows Media Player 12, the screensaver will not appear. This assumes you are either playing a video file and do not want it interrupted by the screensaver, or you are displaying a visualization via the skin or "Now Playing" view.

If neither of these apply to you and you want the screensaver to appear while playing music files, make the following configuration change:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 4 Jun 2009 20:41:35 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-screensaver.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-hide-playback-controls.html When in the 'Now Playing' mode, Windows Media Player 12 can hide the playback controls if desired. Learn how to change this behavior.

When you switch Windows Media Player 12 to its "Now Playing" mode, to show the album art or a visualization without adding extra clutter, the playback controls autohide. To bring them back, just hover your mouse pointer over the Windows Media Player 12 window.

If you don't want Media Player hiding these controls, or if this behavior is not occurring and you wish to turn this autohide feature on, do the following:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 3 Jun 2009 20:28:03 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-hide-playback-controls.html http://malektips.com/media-player-12-hover-song-preview.html Configure Windows Media Player 12 to play a preview of a song when you hover over it with your mouse pointer.

When in the Library view of Windows Media Player 12, when you hover your mouse pointer over a song title, even when you are playing another song, one of two things may happen. Media Player may automatically pause the song you are currently playing and start playback of the hovered-over song, returning to the original song when your mouse pointer leaves the area. Or, a "Preview" link may appear - click it to preview the current song, pausing the current song (if any) in the process.

While some people may like the automatic song preview, others may play music while navigating their libraries and find this feature annoying. Thus, to configure Windows Media Player 12's behavior:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 3 Jun 2009 16:23:26 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-12-hover-song-preview.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-disable-sounds.html In Windows Vista, if you find the sounds that play when navigating Windows Media Center annoying, disable them.

Normally, as you navigate and select items in Windows Media Center in Windows Vista, sounds play. While some appreciate these audio cues, others find them annoying and would rather disable them:

1. Select "Tasks" - "settings"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 3 Mar 2009 19:41:01 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-disable-sounds.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-hide-games-applications.html Prevent games or other applications from appearing inside Windows Media Center.

By default, Windows Media Center in Windows Vista comes with several games available via the Program Library such as Spider Solitaire. Depending on your configuration, you may have other applications available in Media Center such as sound card configuration software or weather forecast displays.

If for any reason you would like to hide some or all of these applications, do the following:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 6 Feb 2009 19:35:57 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-hide-games-applications.html http://malektips.com/windows-media-player-11-file-types.html Determine the types of files that, when accessed, open and play in Windows Media Player 11.

During the installation of Windows Media Player 11, you had the option of configuring the types of files that, when accessed such as through Explorer, automatically open and play in the software. Note that if Media Player came pre-installed on your computer, this configuration option may not have applied to you.

As you install other media players, these file type configurations may get changed so that, for example, double-clicking a .MP3 music file opens up a different player. Or, you may wish to prevent Windows Media Player 11 from ever opening when accessing media files from outside the player itself. While you can make these changes via Explorer, it may prove simpler to use Media Player 11's interface:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:13:15 GMT http://malektips.com/windows-media-player-11-file-types.html http://malektips.com/windows-media-player-11-download-visualizations.html Download visualization animations that display when multimedia files are played with Windows Media Player 11.

Windows Media Player 11 comes built-in with several groups of visualization animations that can appear when multimedia files are played such as Alchemy and Battery. Or, album art can display.

If you want a greater variety of visualizations in Windows Media Player 11, you can download new ones:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:33:55 GMT http://malektips.com/windows-media-player-11-download-visualizations.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-guide-remove-channels.html If the TV Program Guide in Windows Media Center displays channels you cannot get in your area or those you do not care to watch, remove these listings.

When downloading TV Program Guide information for Windows Media Center in Windows Vista, you may notice some channels appearing in the guide that are not actually available in your area. Or, there may be a channel or two that you never actually watch.

You can easily remove channels from the Program Guide, and these channels can be added back later if desired....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:04:44 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-guide-remove-channels.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-recorder-storage-limit.html Prevent accidentally using too much hard drive room for storing TV recordings in Windows Media Center.

By default, Windows Media Center in Windows Vista can use a large portion of your hard drive to store TV recordings. While this allows you to store more television shows, especially in HD, this also can potentially limit the amount of hard drive space available for other applications.

If you frequently use other applications that need gigabytes of room for data and wish to limit the amount of space Windows Media Center can use to store television shows, perform the following tweak from within the application:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:53:51 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-recorder-storage-limit.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-taskbar-notifications.html Toggle whether Windows Media Center should display notifications in the Windows Taskbar.

By default, Windows Media Center in Windows Vista displays notifications in the Windows Taskbar when certain tasks are performing or when it needs to notify you of warning conditions, such as:

* When you record a television show, a red circle appears in the taskbar. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:46:41 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-taskbar-notifications.html http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-high-contrast-color-scheme.html Configure Windows Media Center to use a high contrast color scheme that may be easier to read.

If you find the text in Windows Media Center in Windows Vista difficult to read when the computer is connected to a television or other output device, there are options to change the color scheme to high contrast black or white.

...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:14:43 GMT http://malektips.com/vista-media-center-high-contrast-color-scheme.html http://malektips.com/media-player-11-rip-music-folder-location.html Configure Windows Media Player 11 to place ripped audio files in a different folder than your "My Music" folder.

By default, when you rip music from a CD in Windows Media Player 11, the ripped media files (WMA by default) are placed in your "My Music" folder, which in Windows XP is located at C:\Documents and Settings\[YOUR_USER_NAME]\My Documents\My Music.

If you'd like to place ripped media files in a different location, do the following:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:16:17 GMT http://malektips.com/media-player-11-rip-music-folder-location.html