Help With Media Player
You will need Microsoft Media player to view National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center video clips.
What is a media player?
A media player is a program that plays videos and/or music on computers. All Windows operating systems of Windows 95 or higher come with a media player.
What version of Media Player do I need?
For the best viewing results we recommend the latest version from Microsoft, but you should be able to view NYVPRC video clips using Media Player version 7 or greater. However, you must have codec 9 installed.
A codec (short for "compressor/decompressor") is the set of instructions your media player needs to decompress and play the video files.
If your Media Player needs the codec, it should download automatically when you attempt to view the video clips.
How do I know what Media Player version I am running?
Open the Media Player application, and select "About Windows Media Player" in the Help menu. A popup window will list the version number, which may be followed by decimal points and additional numbers.
The table below lists what versions of Media Player are likely to be the default install of various operating systems.
|
Operating System |
Version you may have: |
What you need to do... |
|---|---|---|
|
Windows 95 |
Default install is Media Player 6.4 |
You MUST upgrade to a higher version of Media Player from Microsoft. |
|
Windows NT |
Default install is Media Player 6.4 |
You MUST upgrade to a higher version of Media Player from Microsoft. |
|
Windows 98 |
Default install is Media Player 7 |
This version will work fine if you have codec 9. If you do not have codec 9 installed, you will be prompted to install one. This install happens very quickly and you should not have to reboot. NOTE: you may also be prompted to upgrade to an entirely new Media Player. You do not have to upgrade but we recommend you do so for improved viewing of multi-media files on this and other sites. |
|
Windows XP |
Default install is Media Player 8 |
This version will work fine if you have codec 9. If you do not have codec 9 installed, you will be prompted to install one. This install happens very quickly and you should not have to reboot. NOTE: you may also be prompted to upgrade to an entirely new Media Player. You do not have to upgrade but we recommend you do so for improved viewing of multi-media files on this and other sites. |
|
Mac OS 8.1 |
Can run Media Player 7. |
You may already have this player. If not, download from Microsoft. |
|
Mac OSX |
Can run Media Player 9. |
You may already have this player. If not, download from Microsoft. |
How do I activate closed captioning?
Depending upon what version of media player you are running, the captions option is in the View menu, or in the Play menu under "Now Playing Tools". Make sure your Media Player is in "Full Mode," not "Skin Mode" (listed in the View menu). Media Player needs codec 9 to display captions. (See "What version of Media Player do I need?" above, for more information about codecs.)
Why does Media Player show up in a separate panel on my Internet Explorer's lower left side?
While the Media Player can be embedded in the lower left panel (the Media Window) of your Internet Explorer browser, captions do not show and the picture size is smaller. We recommend viewing NYVPRC video clips in the stand-alone Media Player window instead.
To turn this option off:
- From the Tools menu on your browser, select Internet Options.
- Click on the Advanced tab.
- Scroll down to the Multimedia section.
- Check off the option "Don't display online media content in the media bar."
For complete information on Media Player and media streaming, please refer to Microsoft.