QuickTime Alternative

[Dch48]

If you have the ffdshow codec either from installing it seperately or as part of the excellent free program Format Factory, you can play real player files. As far as I know, however, I never encounter anything in that format and avoid it as much as I can.

I actually use Media Player 10 for almost everything and only use MPC (Media player Classic) when I want to be able to see more information about the file such as codecs used, bit rates, etc. It gives a lot more info than WMP but WMP has better sound for CD's and mp3's.

[DavidR]

The SAS Portable really only needs to serve for one day, its purpose is to be used when you otherwise can't install SAS or other security applications due to malware infection, etc.

Your photos need to be on at least two separate locations (hard disk/USB flash drive/disks, etc.), if one drive should fail you need to have back-ups stored on a different drive ore you are lost. That is a major reason for having two hard disks and possibly off-system back-up locations (external hard disk, USB flash drive.

I have an absolutely tiny 8GB USB Flash drive, which is almost as big as your drive

[Chim]

Craig, it'll probably be tomorrow morning before I download VLC Player and try it out.  At 18 Meg, that's close to a 2-hour download.  I already killed that same amount this morning downloading QT Lite and Media Player Classic.  I don't want to kill so much time in 1 day just downloading.  Yeah, my computer is too underpowered to do 2 things at once.  Whenever I'm downloading something, it's gotta be left alone until it finishes.  Otherwise it'll virtually assuredly throw an error as the download slows to a crawl.

Do you know how many actual MegaBytes it unpacks to once it's actually installed?

[Chim]

David, I do currently have my photos on 2 Flash Drives as well as on my Hard Drive.
I definitely did NOT want to operate with just 1 Flash Drive as my backup.

Yep, your Flash Drive certainly IS very small.  Don't know that I've seen a smaller one before.

[Chim]

Dch, I always wondered whether Windows Media Player 10 would work on Windows XP.
I see you have it working on Windows XP.
I have Windows Media Player 10 on my backup computer, my Windows 98SE Gateway.
I've gotten better results from Windows Media Player 10 than than from 11.

However, wouldn't Windows Media Player 10 be a security risk by now?
As I recall, on my Gateway, I used to have to download about 2 Windows 98SE Updates for Windows Media Player 10 security issues.

[Alan Baxter]

Do you know how many actual MegaBytes it unpacks to once it's actually installed?

VLC unpacks to 75MB on Windows.

[DavidR]

<snip>
Yep, your Flash Drive certainly IS very small.  Don't know that I've seen a smaller one before.

Yes only just over 1 inch by a half inch, easily lost if you don't have it on a long piece of cord

[Alan Baxter]

Just one question though.  I tried to play an Audio CD with Media Player Classic.
I couldn't get it to work.  It seemed to recognize the CD since it displayed the title of the CD.  But, then when I clicked on Open Disk, it said it couldn't find it.  How DO you get Media Player Classic to play a CD?  Is it NOT playing the CD because currently Windows Media Player 11 is the DEFAULT Player for CDs?  Is that what's up?

I don't know.  I don't have any application configured to automatically play CDs.  I usually don't play them on my computer, but just now I tried out playing one with MPC. File > Open Disc finds Audio CD (G:) for me and plays it with no problem. (It's not a commercial CD.  Just one that someone had burned for me.  I guess that may be why it's titled Audio CD)

[Chim]

It must have been some temporary glitch.  I got Media Player Classic to play Audio CDs.

So, VLC Player unpacks to 75 Meg, huh?
Okay, thanks.  I'll try it tomorrow.

[CraigB]

It must have been some temporary glitch.  I got Media Player Classic to play Audio CDs.

So, VLC Player unpacks to 75 Meg, huh?
Okay, thanks.  I'll try it tomorrow.

Yes 75meg sounds right. Thats the easy thing with vlc, you dont have to get! just right click whatever file and chose play with vlc 

[Omid Farhang]

as what I know QuickTime Alternative mainly is a browser plugin more than being a QuickTime codec in computer (but it has Move Splitter, so it will help play some files too).

but I prefer to don't use it, I use Win7Codeck Pack in my computer so I can play every kind of media files in my computer using Windows Media Player or media player classic or my other favorite media players. so instead of install QuickTime alternative, I download media files in my computer and then play them using my own player instead of watch or listen inside browser. also it's safer too! (to have fewer plugins inside player).

[CraigB]

as what I know QuickTime Alternative mainly is a browser plugin more than being a QuickTime codec in computer (but it has Move Splitter, so it will help play some files too).

but I prefer to don't use it, I use Win7Codeck Pack in my computer so I can play every kind of media files in my computer using Windows Media Player or media player classic or my other favorite media players. so instead of install QuickTime alternative, I download media files in my computer and then play them using my own player instead of watch or listen inside browser. also it's safer too! (to have fewer plugins inside player).

With the codec pack's you generaly have to place certain codec's into the area's that you want to use them and the full codec pack is about 60 to 80meg and you still have  windows media player and media player classic, with vlc you can delet all the windows media stuff and classic player stuff and it will play quicktime files on your computer or through browser and wmv, mvk,iso and any other file you can think of.

[Alan Baxter]

as what I know QuickTime Alternative mainly is a browser plugin more than being a QuickTime codec in computer (but it has Move Splitter, so it will help play some files too).

Well, actually no, QuickTime Alternative (QTA) is both a browser plugin and a codec that's used by Media Player Classic (MPC) for standalone playing of QuickTime files.  (QuickTime Alternative Lite aka QT Lite is usually the same thing as QTA, but distributed without MPC.)  Since you don't need or actually use QTA, Omid, it's understandable you could be misinformed about that.

Similary, Real Alternative (RA) is both a browser plugin and a codec that's required by MPC for standalone playing of Real media files.  I use a MPC fork, Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HT), as my default media player because it has more features than MPC and is still in very active development.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/real_alternative.htm
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

but I prefer to don't use it, I use Win7Codeck Pack in my computer so I can play every kind of media files in my computer using Windows Media Player or media player classic or my other favorite media players. so instead of install QuickTime alternative, I download media files in my computer and then play them using my own player instead of watch or listen inside browser. also it's safer too! (to have fewer plugins inside player).

At times I use VLC media player because it has some features that MPC-HT doesn't.  As explained by others elsewhere, VLC has all the codecs it needs built right in.  It even supports most QuickTime and Real files.  VLC also provides browser plugins, but I use QTA and RA for that.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[Dch48]

Dch, I always wondered whether Windows Media Player 10 would work on Windows XP.
I see you have it working on Windows XP.
I have Windows Media Player 10 on my backup computer, my Windows 98SE Gateway.
I've gotten better results from Windows Media Player 10 than than from 11.

However, wouldn't Windows Media Player 10 be a security risk by now?
As I recall, on my Gateway, I used to have to download about 2 Windows 98SE Updates for Windows Media Player 10 security issues.

Media Player 10 is offered as an update for XP by Microsoft Update and I've never had any problems running it. WMP 11 is also available but I never got that for two reasons. I prefer 10 and 11 caused a conflict with my Sonic Burning suite. I have recently replaced Sonic with the Ashampoo burning app so there wouldn't be any conflict problem but I still prefer version 10. If WMP 10 was a security risk, I'm sure the upgrade to 11 wouldn't be offered only as an optional update by Microsoft. There have been a number of security updates that applied to v10 which I have always installed.