I am currently running Windows Media as my default player for all mpeg, mov and avi files. I have 3 questions

1., How do you change default players

2. do most people find windows media to be the best player or have you had better experience with Real Player or a different media player

3. It seems that most .mov files are junk. Are .avi files usually junk as well?

4. the few .avi files I have tried to run, typically give me the the error code "One or more codes needed to play this file cant be found"..
What can I do in this case, and is there a way to see if it can be viewed on an alternative player or possibly convert the file to get the proper code

Thank you in advance

1. This will show you how
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...%3E#post163057

2. I don't use WMP but lots of people love it. If you do a search (top right, between faq & home) for video players, you'll probably find heaps of threads about peoples' preferences. VLC seems to be popular & has built in codecs.

3. Some avi are junk, some aren't. There's no definitive answer... lots of junk around these days in different formats. I think you'll find that WMV is the format that people trust the least. Remember, you can check the file out with bitzi before you download. Here's info on Bitzi
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=37676
Just remember to make sure that the file size looks right for what you're downloading.

4. You can download codecs for your WMP. Here's a link to different codecs & alternative players. If you like, try out a different player & see what you think
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=40665

thank you for your advice..VideoLAN is truly a much better player than Windows Media..My problem is that it keeps defaulting to Windows media when i hit Launch, how can I change the default for both my library and to preview files which are downloading

Thank you

My link #1 should've taken you to it but try this one
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=34465

It will explain how to change

Sorry, I was doing a bad job of explaining..when I go to Windows Explorer (outside of LW) and open up any program, it DOES use VLN, however when I am in Limewire and hit Launch or Preview, it STILL defaults over to Windows media...How can I change the default player within LW away from Windows and over to VLN, since doing it just in Windows Explorer is not affect Limewire

No, you weren't doing a bad job of explaining, the explanation in the link should've worked! Just tested it & it works for me (I'm not downloading so can't preview, but it launches from within the LW library).


My computer > find your saved folder & open it. Highlight the file. Now file > open with > choose pgm > highlight the program you want to default to > tick 'always use the selected program' > ok.

I don't understand why it's not working for you

Hey Birdy, I've done everything as well, I've been trying for months and I cant preveiw through VLC either, it defaults for everything else I want to do outside LW but not while Im in it...
I have even installed the codecs for WMP and can veiw completed downloads through it, but when it comes to previewing incompletes and stuff thats still downloading it wont work either...
Go figure lol.....
Got any clues as to why....

You're asking me????

I'm going to download VLC & see what it does!

That was quick lol
yeh check it out its starting to bug me now lol...

Firstly, I should say a big sorry to neilfe. I changed my default player but at that stage I didn't have VLC. You're right, it won't launch within LW.

WW, the VLC icon's there next to the movie in my library but it won't launch. I'm gonna delete my prefs & see if that does anything. Or have you tried that?
Weird.