Hi ravencajun, Thanks for the information, I put this in my favorites so that I can go back and research those later. I hope you don't mind but I do have another question about those type of programs. I have never used Quick Time or itunes, they were on my computer when I had it built. My question is what are the purpose of these programs and what are they used for? Please give me an example. I was use to Media Player because of my music and I learned how to put some music into the Media Player. I know there are programs out there that you can use for music n't open media player why?" size=40> Message: Optional Link URL:    Name of the Link: Information about Posting You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account. Please review our Rules of Play before posting. Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos. After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it. Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use. We have a strict no-advertising policy! If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum. If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help. Learn more about in-text links on this page here Return to the Computer Help Forum Most Recent Posts Compost now?Bunny poop? â¢Â by kimmsr Bernhardt leather â¢Â by Freethinker99 Raised Garden Bed soil help â¢Â by marymcp mycorrhizae for old pasture land? â¢Â by kimmsr UPDATE: January O.B.F. Member's Re-Purposed Fun Part 2 â¢Â by pmb2005 Quality sofa from Restoration Hardware? â¢Â by Freethinker99 Luna Moth Eclosed â¢Â by woollybear69 blueberries blooming too early! â¢Â by jbclem Leather-look blended sofa? â¢Â by Freethinker99 the f4f forum â¢Â by fespo Explore GardenWeb Ann's Cream Cheese Babka Perfect for Holiday Baking Feeding...

VLC used to hiccup at the start of every FLAC file I played. In both the Linux version and the Windows version on different machines. Several updates and it eventually got fixed but until then I used Media Player Classic. http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ Or just for audio, Foobar: http://www.foobar2000.org/ Windows Media Player pretended not to even know the FLAC codec existed so I never had use for it. VLC amazed me by playing RAR'd up DVD(VOB) movies before they even finished downloading. Public Domain movies of course. The only thing you may want to watch if you install VLC is that they may try to slip in some useless(to me) toolbar, change your search engine or whatever. Just uncheck the box unless you want it. Actually, I had forgotten MPC until I started writing this so I installed it. To its credit, it didn't try to slip anything else into the install, which I like.

Here's an explanation lifted from a webpage: A codec is software that is used to compress or decompress a digital media file, such as a song or video. Content creators use codecs because a compressed file takes up less storage space on your computer and can be transferred across the Internet more quickly and smoothly. When you play a digital media file, Windows Media Player uses a codec to decompress the file. Codecs are used to create and play nearly all music or video files on your computer or on Web sites. Q.Why do I get a message that says my computer is missing a codec? A.You are probably trying to play a file that uses a codec that is not on your computer. When you try to play a file that uses a codec that is not on your computer, the Player tries to download the codec from a Microsoft server. If the codec is available, the Player installs it on your computer and then plays the file. If the codec is not available on the server (for example, because the codec wasn't created by Microsoft), the Player displays a message that your computer is missing a codec. If you are connected to the Internet, the message usually has a Web Help button that you can click for more information. If the Player can determine which codec you are missing, when you click that button, a Help topic is displayed that contains a link to WMPlugins.com, a Web site that lists a number of codecs that are available to download. The MPEG-2 and DivX video codecs and the ACELP.net and Ogg Vorbis audio codecs are examples of codecs that are not included in the operating system or the Player by default. Q.How do I find a codec? A.When trying to find the right codec for a particular file, you can use WMPlugins.com or other Web sites. Typically, you should start with WMPlugins.com first. Recommend that you use caution when installing codecs that aren't listed on WMPlugins.com or Microsoft.com. If your computer is running Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition or Windows XP, we recommend that you set a system restore point before installing any digital media components. This enables you to return to your original system configuration, if necessary. If you get a message that you're missing a codec when you try to play a file, click the Web Help button on the message. In the Help topic that is displayed, click the link to WMPlugins.com. If you know the name of the codec you want to find, you can go directly to WMPlugins.com Codec. If the codec is listed on WMPlugins.com, follow the instructions on the page to download and install the codec. Q.Does the Player always try to download codecs automatically? A.It depends on several factors. To ensure the Player can try to download codecs automatically, you must have Internet Explorer 3.02 or later installed on your computer, maintain Internet access while playing the file, and your Internet security should be set to Medium. In addition, if your computer is running Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Server 2003, you must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. Finally, do the following: On the Tools menu, click Options. On the Player tab, select the Download codecs automatically check box. If you use the Player in a work environment that is managed by a network administrator, you might be restricted from downloading and installing software from the Web.

Excuse me for not saying thank you for your input above, rude! Sorry, I appreciate it. Yes, it's quite the mystery, one not answered in hundreds of articles and blogs of desperate people trying to make this thing stop. Consuming so much of their time, by the time they finally accomplished this goal, totally distracted from figuring out what the freak it was doing. I didn't forget, so if anyone offers an answer even years from now if this question is still sitting here, I will love to know. The more I learned about what this thing does, trying to get control of its' actions, the more of a mystery it became. I even deleted all of the music files at one point to see if that would do it. Nope, still sharing something. Tried looking up files by last accessed to see what was being shared but couldn't find what I wanted to know in Win explorer. I'm not much of a tweaker, just a user, more and more confused by each passing version of Windows... which always seems more and more determined to completely change everything we know how to do every time. I felt like Roy Scheider at the end of Jaws when I finally rebooted and it was stopped! Once I get back to shore on my scuba tank raft, it will be weeks before the habit of starting every fresh computer session and wake-up from sleep mode with crtl+alt+del to kill all instances of that in the task manager. I'm still not convinced I won't find it running again one of these times. There were subsequent Jaws movies, (quality notwithstanding.)