Resolved Can't change default Media types

I have a notebook computer with Windows 7. It has Windows Media Player and RealPlayerSP. I tried to make the RealPlayer my default player for some media types, but Windows Media Player is still the default player. I have no idea what version WMP I have because there is no Help menu on the toolbar, or even a Tools menu, so I can't even access Preferences to change the Media types I want to play there. The RealPlayer has a Tools menu, and a Preferences listing, which I used to select the media types I want as defaults, but WMP is still the default player. How can I overrule WMP?

 

What Pete said, plus you can also do it using the context menus that come up when you right-click. For example, right-click on a .MOV file and scroll down to "Open with ". You will have the choice to either use a program to open the file on a one-time basis, or, for more options, scroll down to and click on "Choose a default program" and Windows will come up with a list of applications for you to choose from and you can also browse for more. If you know which application you want to run your file every time, check the box next to "Always use selected program to open this kind of file ", and you're done.

 

Thanks guys. Your instructions worked, but shouldn't I have been able to select what media types work with what player using the Preferences list on the Tool menu for a particular player (Real or Windows Media)? I tried doing it that way, where there was a list of Media types to select all at once, and then have that player to be the default player for all selected. Somehow, that didn't work. It seems Windows Media Player overwrote my selections. Odd.

 

Glad it worked out for you. If you want an easy-to-use player that literally plays almost any media type, try out the VideoLAN player, or VLC, as it is often called. You don't have to install any codecs to play even some very rare formats. If you need a good streaming solution, VLC works for that, too.

My preferred method is still to install one of the K-Lite codec packs (along with the 64-bit version if you're running Windows in 64-bit), so as to be able to use a native 64-bit player such as WMP x64.