What you should know about various media players:  
 
 
Windows Media Player comes with all recent versions of Windows, and works seamlessly with most of the popular digital audio/video formats (such as MP 3, WMA, WAV, MID, ASF, MPG, and WMV).  
 
If you don't see the 3-letter filename extensions, click here for instructions on fixing the problem.  
These formats will also play on RealPlayer, QuickTime, and most of the other media players.  
 
However, some of these other players tend to be very intrusive and will try to disable Window Media Player, along with steering you to web sites that want to sell you something — usually songs, albums, and upgrades to their media players.  
 
Unless you have some very compelling reason for using any player other than Windows Media Player, I would recommend uninstalling it and re-activating WMP.  
 
To uninstall a media player, click on Start>Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs. When you find the name of the player you want to remove, click on its name and choose Change/Remove. You'll be asked if you're sure you want to uninstall the program. Click Yes.  
 
Unfortunately, deleting a media player does not guarantee the program won't plague you in other ways. Its name may still be listed in your Startup Menu.  
 
Fix this by clicking Start>Run and typing msconfig into the field that appears. Click OK. In the window that opens click on the Startup tab (last one on the right).  
 
If the errant media player's name appears on the list, deselect the check box and click OK. If you are told you should restart your PC, click OK.  
 
 
 
The reason songs sometimes work with one media player — and not another — is that their filename extensions (such as WMP) have been told to "associate" with one particular player.  
 
When you bought your Windows computer it came with Windows Media Player, and all the various music/video extensions were associated with WMP. If a different player is later installed (such as, say, QuickTime) you are asked which extensions you want associated with QuickTime. Most people click ALL, since they often don't understand the question and will do whatever is recommended by the player being installed.  
 
If you subsequently uninstall QuickTime, all your media filename extensions will continue looking for QuickTime, since they've not been told to return to their WMP status.  
 
Windows XP users can fix this by launching Windows Media Player 10 and clicking the little down-arrow (inverted pyramid) in the upper right corner. Then click Tools>Options>File Types. Click Select All to switch all media filename extensions back to WMP.  
Another option available to WinXP users is to right-click any song found on their hard drive (most are likely to be in the My Music folder). Then click Open With. Next click Choose Program, followed by clicking Windows Media Player. Finally, click Always Use the Selected Program to Open this Kind of File.  
 
If a song chosen in the above example was an WMA, all of your WMAs will now play via Windows Media Player when clicked. However, all your MID, MP 3, and WMV files will still be looking for QuickTime. The "Open With" procedure needs to be done with each music or video format.  
 
If you have a pre-XP version of Windows, it's best to uninstall Windows Media Player altogether and then install Windows Media Player 9, which can be downloaded from www.download.com.