View Full Version : Video-related WinXP annoyances


syc0pathic
29th January 2007, 20:16
I tried posting this on a computer forum, but I haven't gotten any responses. Since most of these problems are video-related, I thought u guys might have some insight...

I'm a big believer that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Win98 always met my needs pretty well... until I got DSL that doesn't support it. So I upgraded to XP Pro and there's several things about it that I don't like. I've already searched microsoft.com and found a bunch of info that's related, but nothing that actually addresses these problems.

1. I prefer to use WMP Classic (like the version from Win98) to watch vidz cuz I know all the keyboard shortcuts. So I've changed my file type associations for vid files. The problem is that sometimes when I'm editing several clips, I like to open them all at once and then play and close them 1 at a time while checking for audio sync, aspect ratio, etc. But when I right-click on a group of vid files and choose "Open", they all play instead of just opening. In fact, "Play" and "Open" do the same thing. In Win98, u can edit the commands for Play and Open in the file types tab -- but in XP, u can only edit them if u'r using the default program. Since I've changed from the defaul of WMP to the Classic version, I can't edit the commands... I also can't change the icon. Is there any other way to do this?

2. Also, when watching vid clips w/ WMP Classic, the screen saver is not disabled -- even though it was when I was using Win98. There's an option in WMP to disable it and I've selected that option, but apparently that doesn't apply to Classic (and Classic doesn't have that option in its menus). So how do I stop my movie from being interrupted every 15mins??

3. Is there any way to prevent WinXP from previewing a vid file when I click on it? I can't delete or move video clips. It ALWAYS tells me that the file is being used by another program -- even if it's the 1st thing I do after I start the comp. And yet, if I select 2 files at a time, delete or move works just fine. I think it has to do w/ WinXP previewing the file... WinXP is actually "using" the file. So if I want to move a file from 1 folder to another, I have to make a shortcut for that file, select both the original file and the shortcut, move them into the other folder, go into the other folder, find the shortcut, delete it, and then go back to the original folder. Pretty damn complicated for something that should be a 1-step, split-second process:angry: I turned off the detail column on the left side of the folder window, thinking that would prevent the preview, but it doesn't make any difference.

4. Sometimes when I wanna make a quick list of files I have on some CDs, I just create a folder and make shortcuts from the CD to the folder. But WinXP won't let u do that... when u right-click, your only options are copy, move, or cancel.

5. 1 of my video editing programs (VirtualDubMod) has a command to shut the computer down when it's done processing. Always worked fine w/ Win98, but now the program shuts down but the computer keeps running. Do I have to tell XP to give permission to that program to be able to shut the computer down?

Thanx for reading... I'd appreciate any help u can offer on any of these issues...

foxyshadis
29th January 2007, 20:55
1. Reset it to default, and change the shortcuts manually, instead of relying on the much flakier "open with" settings. That way you actually can edit the command lines.

3. regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll
in the run box.

4. I don't think you can do it that way, but you can look at the tool "Oscar's Renamer" to get a textual list of filenames.

Not sure about the others.

Pookie
29th January 2007, 21:03
http://www.rjlsoftware.com/software/utility/stopss/

http://www.rjlsoftware.com/software/utility/shutdown/

In the case of shutdown, try the above util from the command line. If that app shuts your system down, VirtualDubMod outght to be able to as well...

syc0pathic
31st January 2007, 19:26
1. Reset it to default, and change the shortcuts manually, instead of relying on the much flakier "open with" settings. That way you actually can edit the command lines.

3. regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll
in the run box.

4. I don't think you can do it that way, but you can look at the tool "Oscar's Renamer" to get a textual list of filenames.


1. Yeah I can edit the command lines so it opens and plays correctly, but then it will open w/ the wrong version of WMP. Or are u saying that I can edit the command lines so it will open w/ WMP Classic?

3. Worked perfectly -- thanx!:D

4. Yeah, I have a program called File Grab to make lists w/... but when I have several CDs and I want to see if they have duplicate files, I just make a new folder and dump the shortcuts into it. Then, when it finds a duplicate, it tells me that the shortcut already exists. To do that w/ a file lister program, I'd have to sort by name and compare manually or w/ a text editor. It's not the big of a deal I guess... it's not something I use very often, but it was definitely more convienent w/ Win98.

As for the shutdown, I have a program called Switch Off that shuts the computer down at a chosen time. That works fine... the problem is that I have to guess when VDubMod will be done processing so I don't shut the comp down too early. Anyway, I noticed that the only computer the VDM shutdown doesn't work on has 3 user accounts on it -- the other 2 I checked only have 1 account and VDM shutdown worked fine on them. So I think it has something to do w/ not turning the computer off becuz the other users might be logged in and have documents open. There's also something I read while I was searching about enabling hibernate mode... I'll have to experiment w/ that.

foxyshadis
31st January 2007, 20:31
You can use regedit or the file associations tool in explorer to change the path to
"%programfiles%\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe" /whatever "%1"
instead of wmplayer.exe, and you might need to turn off DDE since it isn't really helpful. If you force it with Choose Program... it'll always use the default method without the extra options.

setarip_old
31st January 2007, 22:15
Hi!

Regarding #4 - With WinXP (with all updates), rightclick and "drag&drop" file to folder yields the following options:

"Copy here", "Move here", Create shortcuts here", and "Cancel"

check
1st February 2007, 00:45
Instead of using mplayer2, have you considered using Media Player Classic? The UI is almost the same, but it has several advantages, screen saver blocking being one of them :)

zambelli
1st February 2007, 01:01
Instead of using mplayer2, have you considered using Media Player Classic? The UI is almost the same, but it has several advantages, screen saver blocking being one of them :)
"Several advantages"? More like "8 years worth of advantages", LOL. :D I'm not sure Mplayer2 even uses VMR7! The only reason it kept being included with all WMP releases was because of compatibility with apps that relied on it (of which there probably aren't any left anymore).

syc0pathic
6th February 2007, 22:18
You can use regedit or the file associations tool in explorer to change the path to
"%programfiles%\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe" /whatever "%1"
instead of wmplayer.exe, and you might need to turn off DDE since it isn't really helpful. If you force it with Choose Program... it'll always use the default method without the extra options.Worked great... it even changed the icons to what they looked like in Win98 so it's ez to tell AVI, MPG, WAV, etc apart.:D

Instead of using mplayer2, have you considered using Media Player Classic? The UI is almost the same, but it has several advantages, screen saver blocking being one of themThat's damn good idea... I used to use MPC for Real Media playback, so I'm already familiar w/ the app. And if it will solve the screen saver issue, then it sounds like the way to go.

Cool... so it looks like the only thing we haven't solved is the lack of shortcuts from files on CD. Oh well, that was the most minor thing on the list and I can always use a file lister program to avoid the problem. Man, I kept updating my post for over a month on the computer forum and they didn't solve any these problems. U guys knocked 'em out pretty quick -- thanx!:D

syc0pathic
6th February 2007, 22:21
Anyway, I noticed that the only computer the VDM shutdown doesn't work on has 3 user accounts on it -- the other 2 I checked only have 1 account and VDM shutdown worked fine on them. So I think it has something to do w/ not turning the computer off becuz the other users might be logged in and have documents open. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that this was the problem... after I deleted the other 2 user accounts (which nobody ever used anyway) VDM shutdown worked fine.