Viewing.wmv
Setup your computer to
watch .wmv files online
INTRODUCTION ... 1 WINDOWS PC… ... 2
Situation Overview 2
1. My Computer 2
2. Tools, Folder Options 2
3. Files Types 2
4. Scroll Down 3
5. Open With 3
6. Select Windows Media Player 3
7. Click OK 4
8. Done With Folder Options 4
9. Restart Your Computer 4
MAC ... 5
May Need to Uninstall Flip4Mac 5
Download VLC Player 6
1. Find a WMV Link 6
2. Download Link 7
3. Icon 7
4. Get Info 7
5. Open With 8
6. Select VLC Application 8
7. Change All 9
8. Continue 9
9. Restart Your Computer 9
FIREFOX ON WINDOWS ... 10
Situation Overview 10
1. Tools, Options 10
2. Applications 10
3. Scroll Down 11
4. Select Windows Media Player 11
FIREFOX ON MAC... 12
1. Firefox, Preferences 12
2. Applications 12
3. Scroll Down 13
4. Select VLC application 13
INTRODUCTION
Windows and Mac OS are both capable of playing WMV files, but each has their own means of doing so.
Windows has the built-in ability to play WMV files, but for some individuals they may need to remind Windows/Internet Explorer how to play WMV files with a few simple settings.
For Mac OS users who use the Safari web- browser, they will need to download a program and associate that program with WMV files.
For users of the Firefox web-browser, you can go directly to the sections about Firefox for PC or Mac. Firefox has its own settings to determine how to play a WMV file, and doing so is very similar on Mac and PC (with slight differences).
WINDOWS PC…
Situation Overview
Windows comes with Windows Media Player which is the default program to view WMV files.
Over time you may have downloaded other media players which may have become assigned to play all your video files, but these other programs may not be as compatible with WMV files.
The instructions below will show you how to restore Windows Media Player as the primary program to view WMV files.
1. My Computer
On your desktop, double-click “My Computer.”
2. Tools, Folder Options
In the menu bar at the top, click Tools.
Once the Tools menu is open, select Folder Options.
3. Files Types
The “Folder Options” window should now be open.
You can now click the File Types tab near to top.
4. Scroll Down
In the list of “Registered file types” scroll down.
While scrolling down, look in the “Extensions”
column for “WMV.”
In the bottom half of the window is the sub-section
“Details for WMV extension.” Check which program it Opens with.
If it opens with “Windows Media Player”
you can skip the rest of the instructions, and immediately start watching videos.
But, if anything other than “Windows Media Player”
is listed, please continue reading the following instructions.
5. Open With
If your WMV files are being opened with something other than Windows media player, you may need to change what program should be used with WMV files.
Click the Change button.
6. Select Windows Media Player
A new window should open called “Open With.”
In the program list below, find Windows Media Player.
7. Click OK
Click Windows Media Player, make sure that the box is checked for Always use the slected … , then click the OK button at the bottom of the window.
8. Done With Folder Options
You should now be returned to the “Folder Options”
menu. Click the OK button near the bottom of this window as well.
9. Restart Your Computer
You should now be able to watch WMV files.
Just in case, restart your computer so it recognizes the new settings as soon as Windows starts.
The next time you click a link to a WMV file, Windows Media Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window.
MAC
May Need to Uninstall Flip4Mac
If you had never installed the program Flip4Mac, then please disregard this section and go to the next section “Download VLC Player.” On the other hand, if you’ve downloaded the
program Flip4Mac and are able to watch WMVs without any problem, then please disregard this entire instruction guide altogether.
However, if you’ve downloaded Flip4Mac and you’ve noticed that it doesn’t seem to work with WMV files from certain sites (such as faculty webpages and SacCT), then you may want to uninstall Flip4Mac prior to proceeding with the following instructions. This is recommended in order to not have to deal with conflicts arising between the two programs.
Before uninstalling Flip4Mac, you may want to turn off the browser plug-in setting for Flip4Mac from the System Preferences. Below is an image of the screen you may see on your computer.
On the Browser tab you can uncheck the box next to “Use Flip4Mac WMV Browser plug-in”.
Download VLC Player
VLC Player is one of the best programs for
Mac OS to play WMV files.
Visit the official webpage of VLC player:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
And in the Download VLC area
click the appropriate link for your Mac OS.
For Mac OS 10.4-10.5 the “Universal Binary”
should be most compatible.
Once you download the program to your computer, install it.
1. Find a WMV Link
Find a link to a WMV file.
In the example screenshot at right, any link with (WMV) should be a WMV file.
If you want to know what a link actually links to, you can open Safari’s status bar.
To enable the status bar in Safari, in the menu-bar click “View” and then select “Show Status Bar.”
Now when you rollover a link, it will display the full link information. For this situation, make sure there’s “.wmv” at the end of a link.
2. Download Link
Move the mouse-cursor over a WMV link.
Then on your keyboard hold down the control button. While holding control, click the mouse which opens a menu.
In the new menu, click Download Linked File As Then choose the desktop and click the Save button.
NOTE: If the Download Linked File As… option is not available to you, simply click the WMV file link. It will automatically download to your computer. In step three (3) below, look for the new, downloaded file in your default location for downloaded files.
3. Icon
A new file should be located on your desktop with .wmv at the end of its name.
Please note, the example website only downloads just links, but not the actual video itself. The file requests the video from the website so that it may be played
in a video player. You will still need an Internet connection.
If you can’t find the any file with “.wmv” at the end of its name, start again from “1. Find a WMV Link”.
4. Get Info
Move the mouse-cursor over the new WMV file on your desktop. Then on your keyboard hold down the control button. While holding control, click the mouse button to open a menu.
Click Get Info.
5. Open With
A new window should open with the file’s info.
At the bottom of the window, look at the section Open with.
If the “Open with” menu is not expanded to show which program is used, click the arrow next to “Open with” so that the arrow points downward.
This should show you more information.
6. Select VLC Application
Click the line right below Open with.
This should show a list of programs that can be used to play WMV files.
If VLC (or VLC.app) is in the list, click it.
Now go to step 7.
If VLC is not in the list, click Other and find the file VLC on your computer.
It is usually installed in the Applications folder in your hard-drive.
If you still can’t find VLC, make sure you have
installed it using the instructions on Page 5 of this handout.
7. Change All
Once VLC has been selected, click the Change All button.
8. Continue
A new window opens asking “Are you sure…”
Click the Continue button.
This tells this computer to make sure that VLC Player is the only program that should be used to play all WMV files on your computer.
9. Restart Your Computer
Restart your computer.
This will ensure that Mac OS recognizes that VLC Player should be used to play WMV files on your computer and from some websites.
The next time you click a link to a WMV file, VLC Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window.
FIREFOX ON WINDOWS Situation Overview
Firefox has it’s own settings to determine what to do with WMV files.
1. Tools, Options
Click Tools in the menu bar.
Then select options.
2. Applications
The Options window opens.
Select Applications.
3. Scroll Down
In the column Content Type, scroll down to the entries for Windows Media Audio or Windows Media Video.
4. Select Windows Media Player
Right next to the entry for
Windows Media Audio / Video file click the program listed in the action column.
If it says “Use Windows Media Player Plug-in”
you should already be able to watch WMV files.
If Windows Media Player Plug-in is not listed as a corresponding action for a Windows Media Audio / Video file, click the corresponding action and select Use Windows Media Player.
Then click the OK button.
The next time you click a link to a WMV file, VLC Player will open in a new window so that the video is played in its own window.
FIREFOX ON MAC
You will need to download a program called “VLC Player” to watch WMV files on a Mac.
Visit the official webpage of VLC player:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
And in the Download VLC area click the appropriate Mac OS link.
For Mac OS 10.4-10.5 the “Universal Binary” should be most compatible.
Once you download the program, install it.
1. Firefox, Preferences
Make sure Firefox is open, and in the menu bar click Firefox and then Preferences.
2. Applications
The Firefox preferences window will pop up, and select the Applications category.
3. Scroll Down
In the Application category, scroll in the Content Type column until you find one or more of the following listed:
• “asf ” and “asx”
• “wmv”
• Windows Media Perform Step 4 for each of the above Content Types you found.
4. Select VLC application
Using the Action column on the right, click the drop-down menu for each Content Type entry and select Use VLC.
You should now be able to watch WMV files.