Re: How can I disable windows media center in vista
- From: TruthSquad@xxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:42:06 -0600
On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:31:24 -0600, "Jer" <gkstraw@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Media center keeps popping up, I have not been able to find a way to disable
it, so that I can use the program only when I want. It is very tiresome to
keep have it
open when ever I pop a cd or dvd in to my drive. I would like some control
over which program I use to view/listen to the media I have, and not have
one pop up automatically.
Sadly, Microsoft hasn't seen fit to FIX it's Media Player. It has been
a real bow wow and DOG of an application for years. To make your life
easier download the following free alternatives. All work fine with
Vista and they get along fine with each other.
1. GOM Player
2. VLC Media Player
3. XnView
4. DivX Player
5. AVIC (video file header reader/changer tool)
AFTER you download and install some or all of above go into Control
Panel, Default Programs, click on associate a file type... wait while
Windows builds a list which shouldn't take more than 20 seconds or so.
You should see a three column result. If it isn't already sorted by
name, click on that column at the very top so it gets alphabetical.
Now slowly scan this list and find your favorite file types and note
the current default application that gets triggered. What file types
if any you change depends on you.
A few suggestions:
Locate AVI. It probably has Media Player as the default. If you've
installed GOM Player, highlight the AVI line, then click on change
program. Windows should provide a list of alternatives. Click on GOM
Player. Windows will now start up GOM player every time you click on a
AVI file. Since GOM is way more forgiving than Media Player it will
open and play many video files Media Player stumbles on for a variety
of reasons...like partially corrupted file, missing codec, etc..
Continue down the list and change other file types if you wish.
Obviously what you change and how many is optional. Do NOT change none
video files! If you install the first four suggested alternatives
above, you would make DivX player the choice for .div and .divx.
Note: Each player is capable of playing multiple file types. Some
simply do it better than others. You may also wish to install Apple's
Quick Time if you have MOV files.
When you're done working your way through the file association list
you likely will find better alternatives for just about everything
Media Player was set to with the possible exception of MPEG files
which for the most part it plays fairly well unless the file is
corrupt for one reason or another. Again, if you download lots of
files off the Internet you already know often the file gets damaged.
For reasons I'll never understand Microsoft's Media Player doesn't
even try to open or play even slightly damaged files or it sputters in
the attempt. The other players I mentioned don't generally have this
problem.
Assuming you've placed some or all of your video files in one folder
and have set Windows Explorer to show icons so it generates a
thumbnail of the video, most if not all your video files should now
show a thumbnail of the first frame or one close to the start. If you
see only some program icon instead, like GOM's orange icon and the
indication is AVI, chances are it's not really a AVI file with AVI
really being a wrapper or container for some other file type inside.
To avoid the slight chance of corrupting the file making it totally
unplayable, make a copy of the file that shows only an icon and move
it to another folder. Now open the copy in AVIC. Changes are it will
shows some flavor of DIVX, but not show both fields as the proper
upper case only. If not, change to DIVX, apply. Now test open the
file. If it opens and plays all the way through without issue it
should be safe to move the copy to your normal folder. It may still
not show a thumbnail but it should now open in applications that
before might not have opened it. This simple fix cures a common flaw
and sloppy program design... many applications are unable to recover
from minor and easily fixed syntax errors. AVIC uses the brute force
repair method allowing you to physically change what's in the file's
header, a simple trick, that's next to impossible to do without this
simple tool unless you're a geek.
.
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