Q: Win Media Player 11 -- Replacement/Alternative?

Soniclight wrote on 8/22/2007, 7:55 PM
Not sure it's always WM (I have version 11.0.571 etc.), but I'm having XP Home Explorer crashes with this app -- which screws up everything. This seems to happen when manually changing from one WM file or another.

Stuff That Happens (and/or Doesn')...

Sometimes I can relaunch Explorer via Task Manager "New Task," sometimes not.

My nVidia 6800 XT card's software has a slew of the same errors in Admin/Application Events when this happens and I often lose my nVidia Desktop Manager in the process until I boot again.

Yes, I've played around with rolling back, reinstalling nVidia drivers and Forceware, but it doesn't seem to help. Explorer crashes are the core issue.

And got tech Q at nZone (nVidia User to User) forum up, but so far, dead air.

The additional problem with Explorer crashes is XP won't fully load up and I'm left with a dead taskbar and dead everything else on the desktop. Sometimes a Run/sfc /scannow fixes, sometimes not.

Once this gets chronic, I have to do an entire disk restore with TrueImage. Pain in da friggin' butt.

So About This Desired Replacement...

I use the old "Corporate" skin in WM 11 for it's less obnoxious and shows both position and total length of clip (the latter comes in hand when doing test renders). T'would be nice to have those figures showing in said replacement.

Oh, and yes, preferably looking for something freeware or sub-$20 which naturally can play WM native files, (wmv, wma, etc.).

Thanks.

Comments

4eyes wrote on 8/22/2007, 8:26 PM
Mac's are worth the extra money........What's your time worth?
Laurence wrote on 8/22/2007, 8:35 PM
This will sound like I'm changing the subject but I'm not. You really should look at getting http://www.iolo.com/sm/7/std/Iolo System Mechanic[/link]. The chances are pretty good that you have some silly Windows corruption problem that System Mechanic would catch and fix (along with hundreds of other problems you didn't even realize you had). I would look at this before I gave up on your current system.
TGS wrote on 8/22/2007, 8:48 PM
I never upgraded to WMP11, because I heard so many complaints when it was 1st released. I don't know what I'm missing by using WMP10, but it works fine. Somebody probably knows where to find older versions, but that's not something I know.
Soniclight wrote on 8/22/2007, 8:50 PM
"Mac's are worth the extra money........What's your time worth?"

I live on a fixed Social Security disability income and have for years. Gotta deal with what I got, can afford. And don't want to get into the tired Mac-vs.-PC thing. I started on Macs when Windows 3.1 came out.
_____________________

As to some system cleaner, I do some of that already. The suggested site never loaded. I'll try later.
_____________________

"I never upgraded to WMP11, because I heard so many complaints when it was 1st released. I don't know what I'm missing by using WMP10, but it works fine. Somebody probably knows where to find older versions, but that's not something I know."

I dimly recall some online talk about this. In fact, I think I tried to rollback 11 when it came out, but somehow screwed up (one can't do it). May or may be memory-wishful-thinking, but it may very well have been after I went to 11 that some of my Explorer problems started to first show up...

Windows Media 10 is still available at Microsoft:
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/10/default.aspx.

I'll download it but better make sure I don't mess thing up further by uninstalling 11. We'll see.
NickHope wrote on 8/22/2007, 10:51 PM
VLC Media Player

Media Player Classic

Zoom Player
4eyes wrote on 8/22/2007, 11:11 PM
Mac's are worth the extra money........What's your time worth? Actually I was joking, I know Mac's are expensive. What I would suggest going by your descriptions is backup all the data and install a fresh copy of XP. System Mechanic is worth a try first, not expensive & money well spent. Good Luck.
Grazie wrote on 8/22/2007, 11:28 PM
I often get a personal invite by Mr Gates to UG to MP11 - I decline. I tried it once and it went bad on me.

I vote for VLC too. Excellent player! It has an amazing plethora of utilities - 'cept I can't make it do a real simple thing - LOOP? Anybody got any ideas? Oh yeah, once it has finishes it closes on END? Any suggestions?

TIA,

Grazie

Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 12:02 AM
Thanks for alternative players referrals, Nick.

As to re-installing XP, that's way too drastic -- and would take me a long, long time to put things back in order since I have major Qteq system tweaks and others, not to mention progs, etc. Very, very last resort indeed.

SystemMechanic 7 doesn't have very good reviews. I had un-installed my Norton SystermWorks 2002 due to Ghost being a real pain in the posterior in various ways, and proving to be mostly useless, but...

I just remembered I still had its WinDoctor and DiskDoctor.

I used to use the first often, so just did a scan and did find some shady looking WM related ActiveX anomalies and other stuff that needed fixing.

Time will tell if it had any effect. But I still may uninstall Windows Media Player and get something far less bloated. I don't need all of its burning, sites, etc. bells and whistles.

All I do is play files on it, nothing else. I use other things to create content, incl. only audio.
Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 12:06 AM
Grazie,

"I vote for VLC too. Excellent player! It has an amazing plethora of utilities - 'cept I can't make it do a real simple thing - LOOP? Anybody got any ideas? Oh yeah, once it has finishes it closes on END? Any suggestions?"
Fact is, I did have VLC for a short while some time ago but un-installed it for the same reason -- NO loop. Which i use alot, if not always. So likewise welcome solution.
farss wrote on 8/23/2007, 12:21 AM
Well, I've had exactly the same grief, no worse!

I installed WMP 11 and it caused an amazing problem with SFPro, the video preview window became transparent! No one at SFPro could fathom this and rolling back to WMP10 didn't fix it either. After much help from kind souls here and at SFPro I realised the problem. Windows runs TWO versions of WMP. One is kind of like a normal app and the other is used by the OS when an app embeds the player. The WMP 11 install upgrades BOTH!

Fortunatley I had another reason why doing a complete re-install wasn't such a bad move and that's how I got rid of the demon. Like you though this was no trivial task. Just reloading all the SFPro libraries took quite a while and that's on top of the XP install.

System Mechanic is OK, I think, if you know what really doing. I didn't and the trial trashed my mouse prefs. Sounds trivial but for something that's supposed to make life better I got no improvement and some new pain.

Bob.
Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 1:12 AM
Well, I'll still stay away from SystemMechanic. Read some pretty nightmarish accounts. If CNET doesn't even review it, I'm gone :)

As to "SFPro"... uh, I dunno what that is. Must be an acronym for some upscale vid prog? :)

---------------------------------------

Last, on a silly unrelated note:

--- Either I'm getting old or dyslectic: I just noticed that I had mispelled "Media" -- wrote "Meida"...

Sheee-eezus.

So I've tried to erase this by compulsively correcting where I could -- in all subject titles of my replies here. BUT...Traces of my error will last in infamy for years to come since I can't edit anyone else's "RE: ... Meida..." titles.

So much for trying to salvage my dignity as the direct descendant of a journalist...

Who/what the hell IS "Meida"? Sounds like the name of a Moorish lass.
Hopefully she's quite a babe with luminescent, stylish sass..

(Yeah, I'm careening into nonsense-giddy stuff. Time to log off and go to bed... :)
Jay Gladwell wrote on 8/23/2007, 4:12 AM

In the "for-what-it's-worth" department, I too tried WM 11--what a mistake! Within two hours I went back to version 10.

Maybe they've "fixed" the bugs that were causing all the problems, but I seriously doubt it. In any case, I'm not moving from version 10 until I'm forced to, i.e., have to buy a new computer.

<sigh> There's always someone trying to fix things that aren't broken. (No thanks, Bill.)


4eyes wrote on 8/23/2007, 9:22 AM
VLC LOOP DA DOOP! How To:
Click on the "Playlist" Icon. 3 Icons at top select looping (shuffle, repeat all, repeat one).
Access to "Playlist" from View | playlist OR HotKey <CTRL+P>

Command line parameters = VLC --loop

Grazie wrote on 8/23/2007, 10:08 AM
4eyes!!

Thank you!! How easy was that then???

It's official VLC IS the best player! IMHO of course . . .

Grazie


. . I never saw that . .

Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 12:14 PM
"Click on the "Playlist" Icon. 3 Icons at top select looping (shuffle, repeat all, repeat one).

Thanks, 4eyes :)
Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 3:47 PM
I rolled back to 10 and so far so good and got my simple "Corporate" skin by default. (also got copy of intall of 10 if needed).

Zoom Player: For my system, Zoom Player hung every time I tried to switch files. As with VLC, the loop function is buried and one has to check in Options that its on.

I'll re-install VLC if WM gets to be a pain.

-------------------

XP and Explorer

But as was suggested, at some point I may just have to clean everything out and re-install a new XP. Explorer is still a bit fragile overall, and my Search has been busted for a few years.

So I've used the freeware Agent Ransack search app ever since, which is faster, efficient and has never given me problems -- http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/Page.aspx?page=home.

Switching to a 3rd party Explorer is a bit daunting albeit more versatile -- and maybe risky depending on one's system. I tried it but chickened out...

I'll probably tackle the clean out when I get a couple of new hard drives, and my new 3CCD SD or HD cam.

One day at a time.
riredale wrote on 8/23/2007, 6:00 PM
It's very, very easy to re-install XP in a manner that doesn't wipe out all your preferences, system settings, and installed programs. Do a search on this board as it's been discussed multiple times over the past few years.
Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 8:21 PM
That's the second Repair re-install I mentioned in my first thread. It's still risky but may have to do it. On the other hand...

Since the Admin/Events/Applications always show a "nView.info" error every time these freezes happen, I think it's far more a vid card issue.

So I'm more or less tearing my hair out to re-install the version for my card that includes the nTune "Desktop Manager."

It adds extra buttons left of the standard XP minimiz/maximize/close to send windows to one or the other display maximixed or otherwise -- not have to stretch each window every times -- or have it take up both monitors.

The latter is useful in using Vegas and other things, but not other apps or when multitasking..

Computers are such great tools, but what a pain in the freakin' butt too.
4eyes wrote on 8/23/2007, 9:25 PM
You know the nVidia drivers had some problems a little ways back.
You may be better off with the original drivers from the install CD,
Once I get mine working & stable I don't update the video drivers unless Directx updates mandate it.
Soniclight wrote on 8/23/2007, 9:49 PM
Well, so far, the updated forceware is holding well. Have been running WM 10 whlle doing digital editing and tweaking my website with Frontpage -- usually a lethal combination causing the aforementioned.

Between starting from scratch with nVidia and rollback to WM-10, things are back to stable operation.
I've been dodging this problem for some time. So a much appreciated relief. Workflow interruptions suck :)
richard-courtney wrote on 8/26/2007, 2:45 PM
It does indeed loop.

Click View then Playlist. Manage will will allow you to save the playlst as a M3U
file. The toolbar contains three playlist mode buttons. They allow to enable random mode, to repeat the whole playlist or to repeat one item.

In a future release you will be able to save the mode so it can automatically
start playing and then loop by clicking on the M3U.

EDIT: Sorry already answered by 4eyes. Just reading in sequence.....