Windows media player in 98

Hi

I have a problm with WMP7.1'where some movies have pink and green spots.

According to Microsofts online support i have to



Frequently Asked Questions/Windows Media Player
Find answers to the questions people most commonly ask Microsoft Windows Support. These questions are grouped into three areas:


Installation and Configuration deals with setting up the Windows Media Player;
Using the Player addresses basic functionality;
Solving Playback Problems troubleshoots most streaming and playback difficulties users encounter.
For more information, visit the Support Area on the Windows Media Player Web Site.




Installation and Configuration

How do I configure my Windows Media Player to use a Web proxy?
How do I verify that I am using the proper and most up-to-date drivers for my sound card or video card?
What are the minimum system requirements to play back large video streams?

Using the Player

Why can't I play RealAudio/Video content?
Is it possible to save an ASF file for later viewing?
How can I use my Windows Media Player with Netscape?

Solving Playback Problems

Content won't play.
I can play content from some sites but not others.
Content plays, but there are a lot of pauses and the player says "buffering."
Content plays, but the quality is poor.
My video looks bad. It has random flashes of pink or green, or has spots.
Audio will play but video won't, or video will play but audio won't.
I cannot hear the audio on some clips, but on other clips I can.
I can hear audio, but it hisses, pops, sounds scratchy or sometimes drops in and out.
In an illustrated audio presentation (slide show), some of the images seem to have been dropped.
In an illustrated audio presentation (slide show), some of the images have blocks on them where the graphics appear smeared or fuzzy.


Installation and Configuration


Question:
How do I configure my Windows Media Player to use a web proxy?


Answer:
Use the following steps to configure your Windows Media Player to use a Web Proxy:


Open the Windows Media Player.
Click View, and then choose Options.
In the Options dialog box, click the tab labeled Advanced.
On the Advanced tab, choose Windows Media from the list of advanced options and then click the Change button.
On the Advanced Playback settings dialog box, look at the section labeled Protocols, and verify that HTTP has a check next to it. If you already know that your Web browser is configured to use a Web proxy, select the option labeled Use Browser Settings. Click OK to return to the Advance Options dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Windows Media Player.
Note: If you switch to a dial-up connection, you will need to re-configure these settings for dial-up.


Question:
How do I verify that I am using the proper and most up-to-date drivers for my sound card or video card?

Answer:
Follow the steps below. (Follow steps 1 - 3 to confirm that you have a video card or sound card.)



Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
On the Device Manager tab, double-click the Sound, Video And Game Controllers branch to expand it.
Click the sound card or video card, and then click Properties.
On the Driver tab, click Update Driver, and then click Next.
Click "Display a list of all the drivers...," and then click Next.
Click Show All Hardware, then click the appropriate manufacturer and model in the Manufacturers and Models boxes, and then click Next. If the appropriate device is not listed, click Have Disk, and install the correct driver from the manufacturer's installation disk. NOTE: If you receive a message stating that the current driver may be a closer match for your hardware than the driver you have selected, click Yes.
Click Next, click Finish, and then click Yes to restart your computer.
Question:
What are the minimum system requirements to play back large video streams?

Answer:
Follow the steps below. (Follow steps 1 - 3 to confirm that you have a video card or sound card.)

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Using the Player


Question:
Why can't I play RealAudio/Video content?



Answer:
Newer versions of Windows Media Player, starting with the version included in Internet Explorer 5 and Windows 98 Second Edition, do not support playback of any RealNetworks content. Windows Media Player supports Windows Media (WMA, ASF), MP3, WAV, MIDI, AVI, and other formats.


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Question:
Is it possible to save an ASF file for later viewing?



Answer:
The Windows Media Player does not support saving ASF files to a local machine. However, the Windows Media Player now supports the use of favorites from the player so you can save pointers to your most often accessed content. To add a shortcut to your list of favorites, from the Favorites menu, select Add Favorite. Now whenever you wish to view the content again, simply use the favorites menu from either the Windows Media Player or Internet Explorer.


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Question:
How can I use my Windows Media Player with Netscape?


Answer:
You need to have the Netscape Navigator plug-in that is automatically installed with the Windows Media Player. The plug-in, Npdsplay.dll, is copied to the "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player" folder during setup. If this file is present, the plug-in will have been installed for all detected NetScape Navigator installations.

If you do not have the plug-in, you can reinstall Windows Media Player from http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/M [...] efault.asp to install the plug-in.

Once the player is installed, you may need to refresh your Web page (which should contain "navigator.plugins.refresh();" ) to get the plug-in table updated. Alternatively, you can enter "navigator.plugins.refresh();" in the address bar, and then reload the current page.

Note In Netscape Navigator 6.0, you may encounter some problems with streaming media content. The plug-in architecture in Navigator 6 has been completely redesigned, which breaks compatibility with existing plug-ins. We are aware of the issue. No workaround is available at this time. The Windows Media Plug-in remains compatible with earlier versions of Netscape Navigator and other browsers.

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Solving Playback Problems


Question:
Content Won't Play.


Answer:
The server may be down, the content may have been moved, or the URL to the content is wrong. If you are using Netscape Navigator 6.0, you may be experiencing problems due to a redesign of the plug-in architecture in that browser, which has resulted in some loss of backwards compatibility. In these situations you can do nothing. If the content is embedded in the HTML page, try clicking on the player's video screen. In some cases, network congestion could cause the player to time out; keep trying, or try again later when the network is less congested.

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Question:
I can play content from some sites but not others.


Answer:
Most likely you are behind a firewall that has not had the appropriate ports opened for use with Netshow Services. However, if a server has HTTP streaming enabled, the Windows Media Player can take advantage of its protocol rollover capabilities and receive the file via HTTP rather than the normal (and optimal) streaming protocols. This is why you can receive content from some sites but not others. For best quality and consistent results, encourage your administrator to open the appropriate ports on the firewall to allow streaming.


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Question:
Content plays, but there are a lot of pauses and the player says "buffering."


Answer:
The player is most likely experiencing network congestion, meaning there is not enough available bandwidth to stream the selected file. When using a TCP connection, the data in the player's buffer will be used to supplement the stream until the buffer is depleted. Once the buffered data is gone, the player will pause, replenish the buffer, and resume playing, using this new buffer to supplement the playback stream bandwidth. This cycle will continue until network conditions improve. Try again when the network is less congested, or select content that is authored for lower bandwidths.

Another option is to use UDP as your protocol by ensuring that it is the only protocol option selected in the advanced properties. This will reduce the amount of buffering but will have the adverse effect of dropping data in cases of high congestion or insufficient bandwidth. If you are located behind a firewall, you may not be able to use UDP as your protocol.

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Question:
Content plays, but the quality is poor.


Answer:
Content served by Windows Media Technologies is created for specific bandwidth ranges. If the content is created for a 28.8 Kbps or 56 Kbps connection but Internet traffic is heavy, the NetShow Services server will start to drop the frame rate (frames per second) to compensate for increase of network congestion, causing the video to be jerky and uneven. Try again when the connection is better, or be sure to select content that's targeted for the bandwidth you have available.

The quality of the audio or video may also be poor because of the content creator's compression choices. In order to compress content for play over constrained bandwidth networks such as the Internet, mathematical algorithms called codecs are applied to the content. The content creator's codec selection greatly influences the quality the user sees or hears. For example, if the content creator prioritized audio quality over video quality or frame rate, you may enjoy the audio but be frustrated by the video.

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Question:
My video looks bad. It has random flashes of pink or green, or has spots.


Answer:
This problem is usually associated with certain video card drivers that have difficulty with some direct draw features that the Windows Media Player utilizes. In many cases, simply updating the drivers for your video card will correct the problem. If this does not correct the problem, try disabling some of the Windows Media Player Direct Draw options:


Open a file in the Windows Media Player.
Click the file and choose Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, choose the Advanced tab.....etc etc.


Problem is i don't undertand what they mean?
If i play a file and right click for properties i don't get any tabs at all?

Hach