Windows Troubleshooting Tips

Fixing Windows Media Player playback issues

There are several quirks with Windows, Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer that can cause the playback of webcast presentations to fail. Here are some things to look into when playback doesn't work.

Windows Media Player:  

1. Go to the Tools > Options > Player menu. Check the "Connect to the Internet" option.
2. Go to the Tools > Options > Performance menu. Choose a reasonable connection speed, taking into consideration your connectivity and the bitrate of the content you are attempting to view.
3. Under "Streaming Proxy Settings" click Configure and verify the settings, if applicable.
   Note: Step 4 is not applicable to computers within the All Children's Hospital network.
4. Go to the Tools > Options > Network menu. Verify that the RTSP/UDP, RTSP/TCP and HTTP check boxes are checked. If this step doesn't work then try the following settings, playing back the presentation after each step:
   • Uncheck RTSP/UDP and RTSP/TCP and leave the HTTP check box checked.
   • Uncheck HTTP and RTSP/TCP and leave the RTSP/UDP check box checked.
   • Uncheck HTTP and RTSP/UDP and leave the RTSP/TCP check box checked.
5. If you are still experiencing problems, install / reinstall the latest version of Windows Media Player.

Internet Explorer:

1. Go to the Tools > Internet Options > Connections menu
2. Click Add
3. Choose "Connect to the network via broadband"
4. Enter a name then click Finish
5. Click Ok
6. Select "Never dial a connection"
7. Click Ok
8. Check that File > Work Offline is unchecked

Using Firefox to view a webcast on Windows Vista 

By default, Windows Media Player plug-in .dll files are not installed with Windows Vista.  Therefore, Windows Media Player can only be embedded in Internet Explorer. Do the following to view a webcast presentation using Firefox over Windows Vista:

• Use the ActiveX plug-in that you are prompted to download when you first attempt to view a presentation; or
• If not prompted, download the Windows XP plug-in .dll file to your computer machine from this link: Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin