[GHERDEZ]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

You can stop it prompting for updates EVER as follows:

Modify the Registry key HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft by adding the key "WindowsMediaPlayer"
Then Add the value: DisableAutoUpdate (REG_DWORD , Value 1)

DO NOT do this unless you're confident you know how to use the Registry Editor safely!

gm

Hello GM,

You have correctly pointed out the rogue ‘UpperFilters’. I would like to add that are located in several different locations that need to be edited if you want to solve the problem. Like you, I have seen it happen to other people with iTunes, although I haven’t seen it happen with the USB TV tuner. The reason why I pointed the finger to WMP is because it is a Microsoft product. I have experienced aggravation with Apple software. I don’t have iTunes, but I had a taste of QuickTime causing web pages containing links to free mp3s, not to display (although, they did mention that they could deny access by “fail to display” vaguely described web pages they didn’t agree with). This has served me as a predictor on what I can expect from them. Yet, with my all-legit Microsoft operating system and 3rd party software, I never expected that Microsoft would ever behave in this way, by facilitating 3rd parties to ‘vanish’ my devices, offering no official support, and leaving me to resort to the advice of 3rd parties, or to figure out the problem by myself.
Naïve thinking, I know…

Anyway, thank you for pointing out the instructions for disabling the WMP updates. I like to save this, sometimes, hard-to-find information in a TXT file or a web page bookmark, since you will never know when you might need it.

Best Wishes…

GHERDEZ

[GHERDEZ]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

Hello Gherdez,

You were right on the money.It only opens for some radio streams but nothing else.I have all my media files assigned to winamp that I use
out of habbit for many years and mostly reliable.
When I first got into ripping my erly mp3 collection I used WMP
and they turned them into wma files...bummer.
I had to change them back to mp3 from the disc's I created because ,
I found many devices didn't play wma files..You live and learn...

I am more enlightened over the years, and certainly more since I joined
this site and learned so much.

Thanks for your great response,

Hello Nightfly,

I am glad it worked for you.

Your instincts about WMA files weren’t bad. WMA is a better encryption method than that of the mp3. It uses less bit rate and less space for somewhat equivalent sound quality. Unfortunately, the mp3 encryption like in the case of CD linear recording (when compared with perceptional recording of the Digital Compact Cassette a.k.a. dcc) cornered the market first. And now, with memory storage being cheap, and the vast variety of media out there, on both CD and mp3 formats, there is very little motivation to change.

I always thought that knowledge can be either be self-learned or transmitted to you from someone else. I like the latter because you can advance faster and painlessly (or it is less painfully), while the former, through the more traditional learning channels, your advance is slower, and more painful. Through the contributions of the collective knowledge of this forum, I have definitely learned quite a bit about other mp3 stores, and got to know the interesting bunch of you all.

How is it going?

GHERDEZ

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by GHERDEZ

Hello Nightfly,

I am glad it worked for you.

Your instincts about WMA files weren’t bad. WMA is a better encryption method than that of the mp3. It uses less bit rate and less space for somewhat equivalent sound quality. Unfortunately, the mp3 encryption like in the case of CD linear recording (when compared with perceptional recording of the Digital Compact Cassette a.k.a. dcc) cornered the market first. And now, with memory storage being cheap, and the vast variety of media out there, on both CD and mp3 formats, there is very little motivation to change.

I always thought that knowledge can be either be self-learned or transmitted to you from someone else. I like the latter because you can advance faster and painlessly (or it is less painfully), while the former, through the more traditional learning channels, your advance is slower, and more painful. Through the contributions of the collective knowledge of this forum, I have definitely learned quite a bit about other mp3 stores, and got to know the interesting bunch of you all.

How is it going?

GHERDEZ

Thank you Gherdez for your insightful response....

How is it going? It's Going........

Thanks,

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by GHERDEZ

I like to save this, sometimes, hard-to-find information in a TXT file or a web page bookmark, since you will never know when you might need it.
GHERDEZ

Hi GHERDEZ

It can be a problem knowing how to store that kind of information, can't it? I have a friend who e-mails such things to himself, and saves them in Outlook

I spent a long time looking for something suitable, and finally found Parsnips http://www.otherwise.com/Parsnips.html . It's a free-form database - simple, superbly effective, an absolute bargain at USD27, and it has a 14 day free trial; do have a look.

Apart from what it says at their web site, you can search your whole computer for text files, drag them all into Parsnips at once, and it creates a separate entry for each one. You can drag web pages into it, but as it's text-based, it won't save pictures or layout. And as far as I can tell from the licence, you can install it on multiple computers, with the database files on your network server, as long as you only use it on one machine at a time. My only reservation is that you need to Optimize the database occasionally; if it gets too fragmented you could lose data.

I give it 10/10 one of the handful of utilities I couldn't do without.

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by GHERDEZ

Hello Ashley,

Thanks of the reassuring advice about using WMP as an interface to access my Creative Labs Micro mp3 player. It is certainly better to use the front door instead of having to break in into your own house. Which is pretty much what I have been doing up to this point, due to my bad experiences with perhaps the Rogue Registry Entries, that GM mentioned. I always knew that there had to be a better way, but because this is usually an infrequent procedure for me, it was no more than an occasional inconvenience.

I am definitely going to try using WMP for the ‘sync’ purposes.

I going to try to find out the in which non-Microsoft, format addition included the ‘FLAC File’ type. I was hoping that the next time that I wrote you I would have this information, but I have been entertained with the whole national election deal, and I haven’t done so.

One more thing, I am sorry about my confusion of your name and gender. I usually try to find these details from the context wrote by others or some other clues. I am glad that GM pointed this out for me since every other Ashley I know is a she. So, again I am sorry about the confusion.

Best regards…

GHERDEZ

Don't worry GHERDEZ it's not the first time here that there has been some confusion about my gender.

It seems that Ashley, which historically was male as in Ashley Wilkes (from the book/film Gone With The Wind), has now become used more for girls than boys. When I was young (aeons ago!) I only knew one other Ashley and he was male too, and for years I would react if I heard the name called out. But it has become more common now, and these days I just ignore it - especially if it's directed at me!

Perhaps I should investigate a sex change to make life easier for everyone!

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by GHERDEZ

Hello GM,

You have correctly pointed out the rogue ‘UpperFilters’. I would like to add that are located in several different locations that need to be edited if you want to solve the problem. Like you, I have seen it happen to other people with iTunes, although I haven’t seen it happen with the USB TV tuner. The reason why I pointed the finger to WMP is because it is a Microsoft product. I have experienced aggravation with Apple software. I don’t have iTunes, but I had a taste of QuickTime causing web pages containing links to free mp3s, not to display (although, they did mention that they could deny access by “fail to display” vaguely described web pages they didn’t agree with). This has served me as a predictor on what I can expect from them. Yet, with my all-legit Microsoft operating system and 3rd party software, I never expected that Microsoft would ever behave in this way, by facilitating 3rd parties to ‘vanish’ my devices, offering no official support, and leaving me to resort to the advice of 3rd parties, or to figure out the problem by myself.
Naïve thinking, I know…

Anyway, thank you for pointing out the instructions for disabling the WMP updates. I like to save this, sometimes, hard-to-find information in a TXT file or a web page bookmark, since you will never know when you might need it.

Best Wishes…

GHERDEZ

I have an intense dislike for anything connected to Apple for the very reason you have stated.
The only Apple software I have tried always seems to want to take over your PC and 'call home' to force you to continually update.
I have to admit that I do have QuickTime Player but it only runs when I absolutely need it.

I have never tried iTunes and even though I am considering getting an iPod (only for the storage capacity) I will still not use iTunes.
I have done some research and it appears to work fine with Media Monkey and there is an add-on for WMP that allows it to sync with an iPod.

[GHERDEZ]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi GHERDEZ

It can be a problem knowing how to store that kind of information, can't it? I have a friend who e-mails such things to himself, and saves them in Outlook

I spent a long time looking for something suitable, and finally found Parsnips Parsnips - A PIM for Text and URLs . It's a free-form database - simple, superbly effective, an absolute bargain at USD27, and it has a 14 day free trial; do have a look.

Apart from what it says at their web site, you can search your whole computer for text files, drag them all into Parsnips at once, and it creates a separate entry for each one. You can drag web pages into it, but as it's text-based, it won't save pictures or layout. And as far as I can tell from the licence, you can install it on multiple computers, with the database files on your network server, as long as you only use it on one machine at a time. My only reservation is that you need to Optimize the database occasionally; if it gets too fragmented you could lose data.

I give it 10/10 one of the handful of utilities I couldn't do without.

gm

Hello GM,

Like your friend, I have used Outlook Express to store this kind of information, not only by e-mailing it to myself, but also to my cell-phone. With Outlook Express, I can see the description of what I sent, and I can neatly store a note on my cell phone instead of using a random piece of paper. The only problem is that the more e-mails you have, the longer it takes the application to load, and with the cell-phone you don’t have the ability to organize things in folders. Another problem of using Outlook Express is, that if you use it for work, it sometimes get abused by coworkers who send e-mails with a mix of useful information, some other good only through a period of time, some irrelevant to you that you got only because you are on the department list, etc. This makes the sorting task a time-consuming nightmare.

“Parsnips” looks pretty neat. I’ll finally be able to clean up My Documents folder, and save me some time in storing these, loose pieces of information. It seems that I am always thanking you for something…

Best Wishes...

GHERDEZ

[GHERDEZ]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

I have an intense dislike for anything connected to Apple for the very reason you have stated.
The only Apple software I have tried always seems to want to take over your PC and 'call home' to force you to continually update.
I have to admit that I do have QuickTime Player but it only runs when I absolutely need it.

I have never tried iTunes and even though I am considering getting an iPod (only for the storage capacity) I will still not use iTunes.
I have done some research and it appears to work fine with Media Monkey and there is an add-on for WMP that allows it to sync with an iPod.

Hello Ashley,

I got QuickTime with a support software CD for an OLYMPUS digital camera, which can take short videos, in MOV format. I wish they had used MPEG-4 instead, like some other cameras that I have seen. Although the reviews claim that QuickTime MOV format is better, I rather stay away, since it has given me more trouble than it was worth.

You mentioned that you are considering getting an iPod because of its storage capacity. My main concern with iPods has always been that they are not very durable and expensive. I think that you shouldn’t only consider storage capacity to make your next purchase. For instance, the newer Creative ZEN portable media player supports MORE audio and video formats that iPod doesn’t support. While the hard-drive-based 160GB iPod has superior storage capacity than the flash-based, 32GB, ZEN portable media player, it has an SD card slot, and a larger display. And as far as durability goes, flash-based memory is favored over hard-drive memory. Nevertheless, iPods have a broader range of sleek accessories not made for any other player, such as Bluetooth adapter, GPS device, camera connector, etc. As far as sound quality, iPod and Creative ZEN are the top performers, and are pretty much even according to the reviews that I have seen online.

I guess it all boils down to what you want…

Best Regards…

GHERDEZ

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by GHERDEZ

Hello Ashley,

I got QuickTime with a support software CD for an OLYMPUS digital camera, which can take short videos, in MOV format. I wish they had used MPEG-4 instead, like some other cameras that I have seen. Although the reviews claim that QuickTime MOV format is better, I rather stay away, since it has given me more trouble than it was worth.

You mentioned that you are considering getting an iPod because of its storage capacity. My main concern with iPods has always been that they are not very durable and expensive. I think that you shouldn’t only consider storage capacity to make your next purchase. For instance, the newer Creative ZEN portable media player supports MORE audio and video formats that iPod doesn’t support. While the hard-drive-based 160GB iPod has superior storage capacity than the flash-based, 32GB, ZEN portable media player, it has an SD card slot, and a larger display. And as far as durability goes, flash-based memory is favored over hard-drive memory. Nevertheless, iPods have a broader range of sleek accessories not made for any other player, such as Bluetooth adapter, GPS device, camera connector, etc. As far as sound quality, iPod and Creative ZEN are the top performers, and are pretty much even according to the reviews that I have seen online.

I guess it all boils down to what you want…

Best Regards…

GHERDEZ

Hi GHERDEZ,

As I said the only reason I was looking at the iPod was for capacity.
I have a Zen Vision M with 30Gb at the moment which is pretty well full of mp3s. I do not put anything else on it as I have all my music ripped and dowloanded as mp3 - not into videos or photos on it so the screen size is not important.
I will look into the Zen 32Gb as the addition of an SD slot means that I can add extra music as required and I have been very pleased with my Vision M.

I seem to be downloading a great deal more of late now that I am experimenting with different genres and all I seem to do is add and not take anything off.

Thanks for the information.