Tech: Windows Media Player Question

Subject: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:06 PM

Yeah, I know-- why use it?

I just want to know one little thing. When I have used it to rip CDs in the past it went automatically to .wma files. Now it offers an .mp3 option, but it seems to send it automatically to a library. Is it gonna tag the files as un-transferable to another computer like the cheesy sound files people are buying online via WalMart, or is it going to just rip 'em and trust their disposition to me?

~Susan

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:28 PM

It 'should' just make files that you do as you please with. Since I never use it, I don't know what the default behavior is, but if it makes MP3s, you can move 'em wherever you want.

Even better is Media Player Classic ...or 3-4 others

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:32 PM

My preference for ripping is Media Monkey.,,,but it's a database and tag editor also.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 04:23 PM

When you're installing or updating Windows Media it always tries to push you into accepting all kind of defaults you don't want, by making it the default to accept them. That sounds as if it's what has happened to you. You should be able to change the default so as to rectify things.

I generally go through unchecking all the check boxes when I'm updating, so that it only does what I specifically ask it to do.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 04:32 PM

Why NOT use it? Yes, there are lots of other free media players, but lots of them are buggy (and yes, Media Player can be, too - but better the devil you know....). I use Media Player 11 for ripping (and for playing MP3 files), and it works just fine. It makes a nice database of all my recordings, an it saves them where I want them and in the format I want. And the files are completely transferable - to CD, an MP3 player, or whatever. Just go to tools/opitons and adjust the settings to your preference.
Yes, it does make a database index of your recordings, and I don't know if there's a way to prevent that. I'm not sure why you'd want to shut off the database. It's nice to have an index.
I have had a bit of problem with it this week, since I installed a QuickTime update. Can't say I'm pleased with Apple for that. Another thing to figure out and fix.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 04:32 PM

Well, now that I have hundreds of albums ripped onto my computer, I notice a significant sluggishness. I can't tell for sure that it's Windows Media Player that's slowing things down, but it's a prime suspect.

The most noticeable sluggishness is at startup. It takes forever before I can start a program after I've booted up my computer. For a good ten or fifteen minutes after startup, I can hear my hard drives grinding away, as if some program is doing a search - is it Windows Media Player, Norton Internet Security, or some other program? I don't see anything significantly different in task manager at bootup.

Is there another media player that won't be so resource-hungry, or is there a way to make Windows Media Player behave better?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: olddude
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 04:38 PM

Joe
do this and it will fix your problem
Start > Control Panel > Sound > Playback Tab > Double-click
"Speakers/Headphones" > Enhancements Tab > Check "Disable System Effects"
it will start right up

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 04:47 PM

Lot's of things can slow down booting, Joe. Mine is getting slow also.

*IF* you have some security program (Anti-virus, SpyBot S&D..etc.) set to do a scan for problems at startup, look at how much more they have to check if you have a lot of files.

You may be able to tell it (if that were the problem) not to look at certain directories, or you could put music on a 2nd (or external) HD. (I have all my Child Ballad files on an Iomega drive beside the PC....but I still have a couple thousand regular music files on C:)

Do you do defrag regularly? Having bits of files scattered all over 'might' be part of the problem....(I'll tell you as soon as *I* get a full backup & defrag completed.. *wry grin*)

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Snuffy
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 05:29 PM

The culprit might be Windows Search, which seems to have appeared with recent updates, and spends a lot of time "indexing" just about everything on your disk in order to "enhance your user experience".

It shows as a magnifying glass icon in your tray - I just click there and exit the program

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:19 PM

Joe, you say that you have hundreds of albums on your computer. How much spare HD space is left? If you're down to about 10% left the computer can no longer defrag properly and that will cause a lot of hunting and slow performance.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:30 PM

Please don't forget to use a name when you post. I hate being pressured to take action against people....

I've got a terabyte of hard drive, with more than 50% free. I'm storing my music library on a 500 GB HP "Personal Media Drive" that plugs into a bay on the computer. Since it's a USB connection, I suspect the data transfer isn't as fast as an internal drive would have. Oh, and I have an external 500 GB backup drive, and I just bought another 500-gig drive to back up the music drive. So, I guess you could say I have 2 Terabytes, but only GB is internal.

I tried unplugging the HP drive before booting. It didn't seem to speed things up, but maybe Media Player was looking for files that weren't there. Something is using up a lot of energy and time to scan my computer at bootup. You'd think Task Manager would give me a hint, but I haven't detected anything unusual there.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:53 PM

hmmm...there are ways to see in real time what is using memory or CPU.

does alt/ctrl/del show it for you..under 'performance'? If not, there are stand alone programs which will.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: olddude
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 08:06 PM

Slow loading on Media Player is a known problem disable the enhancements as I posted above, that will fix it and it is documented

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Tangledwood
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 06:26 PM

"
Please don't forget to use a name when you post. I hate being pressured to take action against people...."

Sorry Joe, forgot that I did a cookie cleanup.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Gurney
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 01:32 AM

I used to have both WMP and the free MediaMonkey, both well loaded. Then I downloaded a couple of music freeware programs and promptly had severe problems with the media programs. Not the new freeware programs. Now I just have a lightly loaded WMP, because I removed and reinstalled, after chasing the problem until I was sick of it.
I suspect a worm, but the freeware sites say "not us" and my Vkiller programs couldn't find anything either.
Too coincidental to be anything but enemy action, I thought.
Fortunately, nothing was irreplaceable, just irritating.

From that experience, I'd be very reluctant to download if I was set up like Joe O.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 19 Jul 11 - 02:35 PM

Has anyone experienced this problem, or know a solution:
Windows Media player displays album information and a track list
for many commercial albums, or just a blank list tracks if it does not locate the cd.
I recently played a disc for which the player displayed information
for a DIFFERENT disc than the one being played (the Pete Seeger-Leon Gieco live concert in Argentina 1989). Info was for another Gieco cd.
Thanks, Thomas.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows Media Player Question
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Jul 11 - 08:59 PM

"Modern" operating systems frequently install "media managers" that pretend to keep all your files orderly but whose actual purpose is to detect and report to media distributers if you play something that "might be" copyrighted.

It appears that a main factor in "identifying" (a very loose term in this case) specific CDs is the precise length of the first track that comes up. (There may be other things they look at, but I haven't seen any more detailed explanation.) The programs are able to retrieve the track listing for the CD it thinks you've inserted, and may display it instead of reading the tracks from the CD.

At least that's the rough version of how it was explained when those programs first began to appear.

IF you purchase a fair amount of music (via downloads) from the major providers, there may be some useful function for the utilities. Since I do virtually NO audio or video on my computer, I turned them all (there are multiples) OFF so long ago that I don't remember the precise program names used on my (Vista) computer. I do recall that once I turned them off they kept attempting to reinstall for about a year, but I think they're finally pretty well dormant on my machine.

There may be a better explanation by now, as it's been a while.

John