Doom9's Forum - View Single Post - RealPlayer 10.5, installation, performance, etc.

karl_lillevold · 9th January 2004, 01:11

RealPlayer 10.5, installation, performance, etc.
or How to make RealPlayer 10 behave nicely

[This is an updated information thread on how to make RealPlayer behave in a well mannered way preferred by most users in this forum. It is similar to the RealOne instructions, but easier than before]

Previous RealPlayers and RealOne players have been somewhat impolite in certain areas (Message Center with ads, file types, icons, running in the traybar). However, regarding the "spyware" allegations, I have been told one old version of realjukebox did send back some usage information by accident. The information was never even saved, because no one knew about it. That's gone years ago, but it's hard to be forgiven for that mistake, and it is so sad to see the same allegation being brought up again and again.

This RealPlayer 10 is better than before, with improvements in all areas, even though it looks relatively similar at first glance. It is faster, smaller, it has smoother video playback, less jitter, much improved media library, playlist handling, device support, incl Palm and iPod, ripping (to AAC), comes with a RV8+9+10 combo decoder DLL with better performance, that even improves RV playback in Media Player Classic when installed. It plays almost *) all formats, including AAC and HE-AAC. It even plays songs purchased in other music stores, as long WMA and Quicktime components are installed on the system. *) Playback via installed DirectShow codecs (for instance .ogg) is still not working.

However, this post is not really about performance, even though a lot more could be said about improvements in this area. More importantly in this discussion, it is also better in terms of its behaviour.

Here is a list of items experienced media player users may want to modify during or after installation:

Choose Custom Install
Uncheck the boxes you do not want for items on the desktop and quicklaunch bar.
Check only the media types you want it to play. This is the only time you will be asked this, it will never try to take back any media types. Now, is this really so bad compared to other software, in regards to media types? It's not as polite as MPC, but I have other media players which take over media types, and there is not even an option to customize this..
Start RealPlayer, Create an account, or Cancel out.
Then go to Tools->Preferences->Automatic Services, Click Configure Message Center, then uncheck "Check for new messages". Click OK on the "warning" that comes up. Now you will never see the Message Center. In the same menu, check or uncheck Auto-update in its sub-menu as well.
Optionally, go to Tools->Preferences->General and set On startup display to "Player only". That way, no browser, and it starts much quicker. You can open the browser/library with the click of a button.

So to summarize, a few clicks are needed to opt-out, you have to "sign in" the first time. That's about it.

March 2008 - PC World: how to install ad-free clean RealPlayer
Yesterday and today Steve Bass posted a nice tutorial on how to get an ad-free RealPlayer, as well as how to install it cleanly, in his Tips and Tweaks column in PC World.

Download the free RealPlayer 10 Gold here, with no re-direction:
http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=d9

And you should also know, that no one is forcing you to ever run RealPlayer 10 to play back RealVideo and RealAudio, since there are alternatives. Codec packs on the other hand may not install or uninstall properly, and could mess up your system, which is why I recommend installing RealPlayer itself. If you want to use another player, install RealPlayer, follow these instructions, then leave it alone.

For all the technical details about what's new with the Real 10 Platform, including RV 10, RA 10 (AAC), and a detailed FAQ, please see:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68245

Codec Pack?
If you have ever installed a codec pack (RealAlternative) in the past, it appears to be necessary to first run r1pclean.exe. Even though it reports "cannot load setu3260.dll" it does clean up the registry enough such that after this, RP10 runs fine after the installer completes. Without r1pclean, RP10 may not start, and show only flash screen, then die. Uninstalling RealAlternative, via its uninstaller, before installing RP10, has also been reported to work.

RealPlayer 11
I should update this thread for RealPlayer 11, but there are not many changes in the topics covered here.

Note that distributing so called codec packs, which is nothing but re-distribution of codec DLLs copyrighted by RealNetworks, and a few registry keys, is a violation of RealNetworks' copyright and the RealPlayer EULA.

9th January 2004, 01:11	#1 \| Link
karl_lillevold Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,584	RealPlayer 10.5, installation, performance, etc. RealPlayer 10.5, installation, performance, etc. or How to make RealPlayer 10 behave nicely [This is an updated information thread on how to make RealPlayer behave in a well mannered way preferred by most users in this forum. It is similar to the RealOne instructions, but easier than before] Previous RealPlayers and RealOne players have been somewhat impolite in certain areas (Message Center with ads, file types, icons, running in the traybar). However, regarding the "spyware" allegations, I have been told one old version of realjukebox did send back some usage information by accident. The information was never even saved, because no one knew about it. That's gone years ago, but it's hard to be forgiven for that mistake, and it is so sad to see the same allegation being brought up again and again. This RealPlayer 10 is better than before, with improvements in all areas, even though it looks relatively similar at first glance. It is faster, smaller, it has smoother video playback, less jitter, much improved media library, playlist handling, device support, incl Palm and iPod, ripping (to AAC), comes with a RV8+9+10 combo decoder DLL with better performance, that even improves RV playback in Media Player Classic when installed. It plays almost ) all formats, including AAC and HE-AAC. It even plays songs purchased in other music stores, as long WMA and Quicktime components are installed on the system. ) Playback via installed DirectShow codecs (for instance .ogg) is still not working. However, this post is not really about performance, even though a lot more could be said about improvements in this area. More importantly in this discussion, it is also better in terms of its behaviour. Here is a list of items experienced media player users may want to modify during or after installation: Choose Custom Install Uncheck the boxes you do not want for items on the desktop and quicklaunch bar. Check only the media types you want it to play. This is the only time you will be asked this, it will never try to take back any media types. Now, is this really so bad compared to other software, in regards to media types? It's not as polite as MPC, but I have other media players which take over media types, and there is not even an option to customize this.. Start RealPlayer, Create an account, or Cancel out. Then go to Tools->Preferences->Automatic Services, Click Configure Message Center, then uncheck "Check for new messages". Click OK on the "warning" that comes up. Now you will never see the Message Center. In the same menu, check or uncheck Auto-update in its sub-menu as well. Optionally, go to Tools->Preferences->General and set On startup display to "Player only". That way, no browser, and it starts much quicker. You can open the browser/library with the click of a button. So to summarize, a few clicks are needed to opt-out, you have to "sign in" the first time. That's about it. March 2008 - PC World: how to install ad-free clean RealPlayer Yesterday and today Steve Bass posted a nice tutorial on how to get an ad-free RealPlayer, as well as how to install it cleanly, in his Tips and Tweaks column in PC World. Download the free RealPlayer 10 Gold here, with no re-direction: http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=d9 And you should also know, that no one is forcing you to ever run RealPlayer 10 to play back RealVideo and RealAudio, since there are alternatives. Codec packs on the other hand may not install or uninstall properly, and could mess up your system, which is why I recommend installing RealPlayer itself. If you want to use another player, install RealPlayer, follow these instructions, then leave it alone. For all the technical details about what's new with the Real 10 Platform, including RV 10, RA 10 (AAC), and a detailed FAQ, please see: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68245 Codec Pack? If you have ever installed a codec pack (RealAlternative) in the past, it appears to be necessary to first run r1pclean.exe. Even though it reports "cannot load setu3260.dll" it does clean up the registry enough such that after this, RP10 runs fine after the installer completes. Without r1pclean, RP10 may not start, and show only flash screen, then die. Uninstalling RealAlternative, via its uninstaller, before installing RP10, has also been reported to work. RealPlayer 11 I should update this thread for RealPlayer 11, but there are not many changes in the topics covered here. Note that distributing so called codec packs, which is nothing but re-distribution of codec DLLs copyrighted by RealNetworks, and a few registry keys, is a violation of RealNetworks' copyright and the RealPlayer EULA. __________________ This information is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, grants no rights, and reflects my personal opinion. Last edited by karl_lillevold; 27th September 2009 at 17:54.