Windows Media Player 10

[Gyn_Paul]

Can anyone think of a good explanation as to why my WMP has suddenly started to refuse to switch to full screen mode?

Same PC, same Monitor - same everything in fact!

'Absolute Power' looks dead boring in a 4" x 5" box in the middle of a 19" monitor.

paul

[Baz]

Paul,

It might work by going Ctrl+1.

Baz

[Gyn_Paul]

Nope. No dice

p

[bigjimbishop]

WMP never seems to behave on any of my machines.

Typical MS crud

I recommend Itunes for music and Real Alternative for video

If you have a soundblaster card then Media Organizer is great

In fact to avoid Microsoft use Mozilla instead of Internet Explorer and Thunderbird instead of outlook

Zone Alarm instead of Norton (which really is rubbish)

Adaware and Spybot to clean spyware

I set up all my pals machines like this and no viruses, trojans or any other problems so far

All of the above programs (except zonealarm) are free open-source and have NO ADVERTISING Hurrah!

Loads of cool free stuff available here

http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm

the codec packs allow you to play any video format around.

There are loads of other ways to keep the machines clean and fast but I don't want to bore you with details.

[Ecossais]

Paul,

 

If you’re using Windows XP it might be worth giving “System Restore” a try.

 

System Restore allows you to return your PC to the way it was working on a date of your choice, ie it will undo any changes made since that date.

 

Go to - Start | All Programmes | Accessories | System Tools | System Restore.  Choose the most recent date that you know WMP was working properly.

 

If it doesn’t work, you can restore your system back to the current date.

 

 

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote]WMP never seems to behave on any of my machines.Typical MS crudI recommend Itunes for music and Real Alternative for videoIf you have a soundblaster card then Media Organizer is greatIn fact to avoid ...[/quote]

Well I've tried restoring and it doesn't seem to make a difference... suspect it's something to do with either the video card, or the display parameters. Real Alternative is a bloody good suggestion: works brilliantly - Thanks for that; no longer care what the matter is with WMP !

cheers

p 

[Deimos]

There are loads of hidden registry settings for Windoze Media Player. Cannot find it to hand at the moment but there is a download (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/mp10/getmore/plugins.aspx#powertoys) to “Tweak Media Player” (a bit like the “Tweak UI” Power toy). This might help.

I assume you have already done the “Tools, Options” menu then “Performance” tab, clicked on the “Advanced” button and set the “Enable full screen mode switch” (or clear it whichever way round it is).

Also, make sure your screen saver is not messing things up. It is was I would think it would be OK for a bit then lose full screen mode but might be worth trying without a screen saver.

I started using iTunes, but their rejection of anything Microsoft (even when it is good) makes it a bit limited. For example, they (iTunes) do not support WMA – which I have found a significantly better format than MP3 in that it is significantly smaller without loss of quality. When using a mobile device this is a major benefit as these days they mostly support WMA as well as MP3 (the major exception being the iPod). Pity Apple cannot swallow their pride a bit. However, I guess for the moment they will be a bit worried about their patent violation on their user interface (i.e. broken a patent held by a competitor Creative Labs) on every iPod made so far !!! Also, I find WMP has better ways to locate what you want to play. The use of tree controls makes things a lot easier to use.

Whilst I am not a great fan of Microsoft, I do prefer WMP over the others available.

Ian

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote]There are loads of hidden registry settings for Windoze Media Player. Cannot find it to hand at the moment but there is a download (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/mp10/getmore/plugins....[/quote]

Ian,

It sounds as if you have had something like the same problem; when I click the 'go full screen' icon it clears the screen to black, puts up a picture (without framework) the same size as before but top centre of the screen, then after a second or so, collapses to black again, then reverts to the original full screen frame with 1/4-size picture.

However, following Dun's suggestion I've installed Media Player classic and that works just fine so less bothered to get to the bottom of the problem.

paul