Viewing.wmv. Setup your computer to watch.wmv files online

Transcription

1 Viewing.wmv Setup your computer to watch.wmv files online

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3 INTRODUCTION... 1 WINDOWS PC... 2 Situation Overview 2 1. My Computer 2 2. Tools, Folder Options 2 3. Files Types 2 4. Scroll Down 3 5. Open With 3 6. Select Windows Media Player 3 7. Click OK 4 8. Done With Folder Options 4 9. Restart Your Computer 4 MAC... 5 May Need to Uninstall Flip4Mac 5 Download VLC Player 6 1. Find a WMV Link 6 2. Download Link 7 3. Icon 7 4. Get Info 7 5. Open With 8 6. Select VLC Application 8 7. Change All 9 8. Continue 9 9. Restart Your Computer 9 FIREFOX ON WINDOWS Situation Overview Tools, Options Applications Scroll Down Select Windows Media Player 11 FIREFOX ON MAC Firefox, Preferences Applications Scroll Down Select VLC application 13

4 INTRODUCTION Windows and Mac OS are both capable of playing WMV files, but each has their own means of doing so. Windows has the built-in ability to play WMV files, but for some individuals they may need to remind Windows/Internet Explorer how to play WMV files with a few simple settings. For Mac OS users who use the Safari webbrowser, they will need to download a program and associate that program with WMV files. For users of the Firefox web-browser, you can go directly to the sections about Firefox for PC or Mac. Firefox has its own settings to determine how to play a WMV file, and doing so is very similar on Mac and PC (with slight differences). Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 1

5 WINDOWS PC Situation Overview Windows comes with Windows Media Player which is the default program to view WMV files. Over time you may have downloaded other media players which may have become assigned to play all your video files, but these other programs may not be as compatible with WMV files. The instructions below will show you how to restore Windows Media Player as the primary program to view WMV files. 1. My Computer On your desktop, double-click My Computer. 2. Tools, Folder Options In the menu bar at the top, click Tools. Once the Tools menu is open, select Folder Options. 3. Files Types The Folder Options window should now be open. You can now click the File Types tab near to top. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 2

6 4. Scroll Down In the list of Registered file types scroll down. While scrolling down, look in the Extensions column for WMV. In the bottom half of the window is the sub-section Details for WMV extension. Check which program it Opens with. If it opens with Windows Media Player you can skip the rest of the instructions, and immediately start watching videos. But, if anything other than Windows Media Player is listed, please continue reading the following instructions. 5. Open With If your WMV files are being opened with something other than Windows media player, you may need to change what program should be used with WMV files. Click the Change button. 6. Select Windows Media Player A new window should open called Open With. In the program list below, find Windows Media Player. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 3

7 7. Click OK Click Windows Media Player, make sure that the box is checked for Always use the slected, then click the OK button at the bottom of the window. 8. Done With Folder Options You should now be returned to the Folder Options menu. Click the OK button near the bottom of this window as well. 9. Restart Your Computer You should now be able to watch WMV files. Just in case, restart your computer so it recognizes the new settings as soon as Windows starts. The next time you click a link to a WMV file, Windows Media Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 4

8 MAC May Need to Uninstall Flip4Mac If you had never installed the program Flip4Mac, then please disregard this section and go to the next section Download VLC Player. On the other hand, if you ve downloaded the program Flip4Mac and are able to watch WMVs without any problem, then please disregard this entire instruction guide altogether. However, if you ve downloaded Flip4Mac and you ve noticed that it doesn t seem to work with WMV files from certain sites (such as faculty webpages and SacCT), then you may want to uninstall Flip4Mac prior to proceeding with the following instructions. This is recommended in order to not have to deal with conflicts arising between the two programs. Before uninstalling Flip4Mac, you may want to turn off the browser plug-in setting for Flip4Mac from the System Preferences. Below is an image of the screen you may see on your computer. On the Browser tab you can uncheck the box next to Use Flip4Mac WMV Browser plug-in. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 5

9 Download VLC Player VLC Player is one of the best programs for Mac OS to play WMV files. Visit the official webpage of VLC player: And in the Download VLC area click the appropriate link for your Mac OS. For Mac OS the Universal Binary should be most compatible. Once you download the program to your computer, install it. 1. Find a WMV Link Find a link to a WMV file. In the example screenshot at right, any link with (WMV) should be a WMV file. If you want to know what a link actually links to, you can open Safari s status bar. To enable the status bar in Safari, in the menu-bar click View and then select Show Status Bar. Now when you rollover a link, it will display the full link information. For this situation, make sure there s.wmv at the end of a link. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 6

10 2. Download Link Move the mouse-cursor over a WMV link. Then on your keyboard hold down the control button. While holding control, click the mouse which opens a menu. In the new menu, click Download Linked File As Then choose the desktop and click the Save button. NOTE: If the Download Linked File As option is not available to you, simply click the WMV file link. It will automatically download to your computer. In step three (3) below, look for the new, downloaded file in your default location for downloaded files. 3. Icon A new file should be located on your desktop with.wmv at the end of its name. Please note, the example website only downloads just links, but not the actual video itself. The file requests the video from the website so that it may be played in a video player. You will still need an Internet connection. If you can t find the any file with.wmv at the end of its name, start again from 1. Find a WMV Link. 4. Get Info Move the mouse-cursor over the new WMV file on your desktop. Then on your keyboard hold down the control button. While holding control, click the mouse button to open a menu. Click Get Info. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 7

11 5. Open With A new window should open with the file s info. At the bottom of the window, look at the section Open with. If the Open with menu is not expanded to show which program is used, click the arrow next to Open with so that the arrow points downward. This should show you more information. 6. Select VLC Application Click the line right below Open with. This should show a list of programs that can be used to play WMV files. If VLC (or VLC.app) is in the list, click it. Now go to step 7. If VLC is not in the list, click Other and find the file VLC on your computer. It is usually installed in the Applications folder in your hard-drive. If you still can t find VLC, make sure you have installed it using the instructions on Page 5 of this handout. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 8

12 7. Change All Once VLC has been selected, click the Change All button. 8. Continue A new window opens asking Are you sure Click the Continue button. This tells this computer to make sure that VLC Player is the only program that should be used to play all WMV files on your computer. 9. Restart Your Computer Restart your computer. This will ensure that Mac OS recognizes that VLC Player should be used to play WMV files on your computer and from some websites. The next time you click a link to a WMV file, VLC Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window. Note: When using current versions of Safari, the WMV file [link] will first download to your computer, where you can play it in VLC Player. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 9

13 FIREFOX ON WINDOWS Situation Overview Firefox has it s own settings to determine what to do with WMV files. 1. Tools, Options Click Tools in the menu bar. Then select options. 2. Applications The Options window opens. Select Applications. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 10

14 3. Scroll Down In the column Content Type, scroll down to the entries for Windows Media Audio or Windows Media Video. 4. Select Windows Media Player Right next to the entry for Windows Media Audio / Video file click the program listed in the action column. If it says Use Windows Media Player Plug-in you should already be able to watch WMV files. If Windows Media Player Plug-in is not listed as a corresponding action for a Windows Media Audio / Video file, click the corresponding action and select Use Windows Media Player. Then click the OK button. The next time you click a link to a WMV file, VLC Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window. If you still can t watch WMV file please also try the instruction on Page 2 about getting Windows to handle WMV files appropriately. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 11

15 FIREFOX ON MAC You will need to download a program called VLC Player to watch WMV files on a Mac. Visit the official webpage of VLC player: And in the Download VLC area click the appropriate Mac OS link. For Mac OS the Universal Binary should be most compatible. Once you download the program, install it. 1. Firefox, Preferences Make sure Firefox is open, and in the menu bar click Firefox and then Preferences. 2. Applications The Firefox preferences window will pop up, and select the Applications category. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 12

16 3. Scroll Down In the Application category, scroll in the Content Type column until you find one or more of the following listed: asf and asx wmv Windows Media Perform Step 4 for each of the above Content Types you found. 4. Select VLC application Using the Action column on the right, click the drop-down menu for each Content Type entry and select Use VLC. You should now be able to watch WMV files. Academic Technology and Creative Services: Summer 2011 Viewing.wmv: Setup 13