Are you having trouble viewing video in your browser?
Are your computer resources adequate?- Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP
- Windows 95, Windows NT 4
- Handheld PC System
- Palm-size PC System
- Pocket PC System
- Solaris System
- Mac System 8.1 and later System
FAQs
Setting player protocols
Support
To be able to play Windows Media streaming movies and sounds, download the plug-in. You must install the player after you have installed the browser. Live streaming events require that you install version 6.4 or later.
You can download the latest Media Player here.
Required Hardware
Windows Media Player 9 System Requirements for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP Professional
Minimum- Windows® 98, Windows® 98 Second Edition, Windows® 2000, Windows® Millennium Edition, Windows® XP Home Edition, or Windows® XP Professional
- 233 megahertz (MHz) processor
- 64 MB RAM
- 28.8-kilobits per second (Kbps) modem
- 16-bit sound card
- Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution
- 100 MB free hard disk space
- Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional (some features require these operating systems)
- 500 MHz processor or faster
- 128 MB RAM
- 56-Kbps modem
- Compatible 5.1 multichannel audio sound card
- 24-bit true color video card
- 300 MB free hard disk space
Windows Media Player 7.1 System Requirements for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition
Minimum- Microsoft Windows® 98, Windows® 98 Second Edition, Windows® 2000, and Windows® Millennium Edition
- Pentium 166 megahertz (MHz) processor
- 32 MB RAM
- 28.8-kilobits per second (Kbps) modem
- 16-bit sound card
- 256-color video card
- Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium Edition
- Pentium or AMD Athlon K6 266 MHz processor or faster
- 64 MB RAM
- 56-Kbps modem
- 24-bit true color video card
Windows Media Player 6.4 for Windows 98 System Requirements
Recommended- Pentium or AMD Athlon 266 MHz processor or faster
- 64 MB RAM
- 16-bit sound card
- 24-bit true color video card
- 56-Kbps modem (optional for local playback)
- ActiveSync 3.0 (required only if you are using a portable device)
- Operating system for Pocket PCs and Palm-size PCs: Windows CE 2.11
Windows Media Player 6.4 for 95 and Windows NT 4 (x86) System Requirements
Minimum- Pentium 90 MHz processor
- 16 MB RAM
- 16-color display card
- 16-bit sound card
- 28.8-Kbps modem (optional for local playback)
- Windows 95 (audio, illustrated audio, and some video)
- Pentium 120 MHz processor or faster
- 32 MB or more of RAM
- 256-color display card or better
- 28.8-Kbps or faster modem or Ethernet card
- Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT® Server or Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3 (audio, illustrated audio, and video)
Windows Media Player for Handheld PC System Requirements
Handheld PCMinimum
- Microsoft Windows CE 2.11
Minimum
- Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT 4, or later
- 486/66DX megahertz (MHz) Pentium processor or equivalent
- 16MB RAM
- ActiveSync 3.1 or later
- 266 MHz Pentium II processor or equivalent
Windows Media Player for Palm-size PC System Requirements
Palm-size PCMinimum
- Microsoft Windows CE 2.11
Minimum
- Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Microsoft Windows NT 4 Service Pack 5 or later, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or later
- 133 megahertz (MHz) Pentium processor or equivalent
- ActiveSync 3.1 or later
- 266 MHz Pentium II processor or equivalent
Note
For a complete list of Palm-size PCs that work with Windows Media Player, please visit Portable Devices at WindowsMedia.comWindows Media Player 7.1 for Pocket PC System Requirements
Pocket PCMinimum
- Microsoft Windows CE for Pocket PC version 3.0 or later
- 2.5 MB RAM
Recommended
- 8-bit color display or better
- 150 MHz processor or better
Desktop Computer
Minimum
- Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Windows XP.
- Processor Requirements
-150 megahertz (MHz) Pentium processor or equivalent for Windows Me
-166 MHz Pentium processor or equivalent for Windows 2000
-486/66 DX or higher processor (Pentium P90 recommended) for Windows 98 - RAM Memory Requirements
-32 MB (megabytes) of memory for Windows Me and Windows XP
-32 MB of memory for Windows 2000 (64 MB recommended)
-16 MB of memory for Windows 98 (more memory will give improved performance) - ActiveSync 3.1 or later
- Windows Media Player 7 or later
Note
You must install ActiveSync on your desktop computer before you install Windows Media Player 7.1 for Pocket PC on your portable device.Windows Media Player 6.3 for Solaris System Requirements
Minimum- Solaris 2.5.1 or later (English or Western European character sets and operating systems only)
- Sun4m 110 MHz processor or faster
- 32 MB RAM
- 8-bit display or higher (24-bit or higher recommended)
- Sound card and speakers or headphones
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or later, or Netscape Navigator 4.04 or later
Windows Media Player 7.01 for Mac System 8.1 and later System Requirements
Refer to this article in Microsoft's Product Support Services website for more detailed information on Windows Media Player 7 and MacsMinimum
- Apple Mac OS 8.1 or later (Mac OS 8.6 or later recommended)
- PowerPC 603e 180 MHz or higher processor
- 32 megabytes (MB) or higher of RAM
- Virtual Memory turned on
- 10 MB of free hard disk space
- Monitor color depth of 256 colors (Millions of colors recommended)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.1 or later (Internet Explorer 5 or later recommended), Netscape Navigator 4.x (PowerPC version), Netscape Communicator 4.0 or later (PowerPC version), or America Online for Macintosh 4.0 or 5.0
Browsers
Please use Netscape 4.0 or above, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or above(recommended) or other web browsers that support HTML 4.0.
Microsoft
Site. or
Netscape
SiteFAQs
How do I get rid of the clicking sound?
The Operating System sets a default
click sound for when web pages are changed or frames are refreshed.
Our live webcast slide changing technology uses a method which may induce
this sound throughout the webcast. The sound can be disabled by without
affecting any other functionality of your Internet Explorer browser. Some offices have firewalls or
proxy servers which are between your computer and the Internet. If this
is your case, you may need change your player protocol settings. Much
of this depends on a combination of the version of your player, whether
the content is live or on-demand archives, and the configuration of
your firewall. So the best thing to do is try some tests.
Media Player will attempt to stream audio and video to you using several
protocols. In order of best performance
to worst they are: UDP, TCP, and HTTP. If your firewall will allow UDP
content through to you this is the best option, then TCP, then HTTP.
To ensure you have all protocols available, follow these steps
Windows Player 6.4
- In the Windows Media Player click
on Options from the View dropdown. Select Advanced, Streaming Media,
Change. Find the dialog box called Protocols.
- Check Multicast, UDP, TCP, and HTTP, but do not specify
a UDP port to use.
- Click OK
Windows Media Player 7 and above
- In the Windows Media Player click on Options from the Tools dropdown. Select the Network tab.
- Check Multicast, UDP, TCP, and HTTP, but do not specify
a UDP port to use.
- Click OK
If this doesn't work you will need
to either connect to the broadcast site from outside of the firewall
or ask your MIS department to open a port, which supports audio & video
streaming. Your MIS department can support the following standard ports:
(The transports are listed starting with the best quality transport
but hardest to implement on a firewall)
It is possible that the server is
down or the links to the media are wrong. It could also be network congestion
that is causing the player to time out. Keep trying, or try again later.
Buffering is when the player stores
a portion of the stream prior to being played. It does so in case the
bandwidth of your connection gets congested, it can continue playing
until the congestion passes. However, if your connection is too slow,
you will experience buffering through out the presentation. Either,
wait until your internet connection improves or set your player to recieve
a smaller stream. This is done by going to the "Tools" tab, and selecting
"Options". Select the "Performance" tab and from here you can adjust
your connection speed. This speed should never be set higher than your
actual connection. However, if your connection is experiencing a loss
in bandwidth, adjust the drop down menu to be one selection slower than
your current abilities. If the server has a lower bandwidth version
of the media file, you will now be streamed it. If it is still buffering
frequently, your connection to the internet is not capable of currently
supplying the stream. Try it again later.
This problem is usually associated
with certain video card drivers that have difficulty with some features
that the player utilizes. In many cases, simply updating the drivers
for your video card will correct the problem. Following these additional
steps may help to receive the best possible video image:
One thing that may help with the
stream is increasing the buffer size. This allows the computer to store
more of the media prior to playing which will make up for network congestion.
The browser stores temporary internet
files in it's cache, this allows your browser to avoid downloading pages
that have already been viewed. Before you view a webcast, so that you
are sure you are viewing the most recent media file, clear your cache
by following these instructions: First, make sure that your PC has
a sound card to play the audio and the speakers are turned "On", and
the volume on your speakers is turned up. Also check the volume on the
player, and from the computer are turned up. If you do have a sound
card, the content being played probably uses a compression codec that
isn't installed on your system, or the drivers might be bad or missing.
If the drivers are bad this could cause distortion and noises to be
generated during the webcast. To ensure you have the best driver for
your soundcard, go to the manufacturer's website, download and install
the latest driver. To ensure that you have all codecs currently supported,
re-install the latest version of Windows Media Player.
When you first attempted to install
Windows Media Player if you did not have the necessary permission to
install software, or your internet security may have been set to medium
or high. This will prevent the codecs from being properly installed.
Change your internet security to LOW during the installation process,
or see your network administrator for proper installation.
Webcast email support
Windows 95/98/2000: Open Start Menu / Settings / Control Panel and then
double click on the "Sounds and Multimedia" icon. Now choose the "Sounds"
tab and scroll down in the "Sound Events" window until you reach the
"Windows Explorer" section. In this section there is a "Start Navigation"
option to assign sounds to. In the "Name" Drop down menu select "None"
and then hit "OK".
Windows NT: Open Start Menu / Settings / Control Panel and then double
click on the "Sounds" icon. Scroll down in the "Sound Events" window
until you reach the "Windows Explorer" section. In this section there
is a "Start Navigation" option to assign sounds to. In the "Name" Drop
down menu select "None" and then hit "OK".
This will eliminate all clicks when pressing buttons or hypertext links
in the browser.
I can see some streaming media,
but not others?
Why doesn't the audio/video play?
Why does the media stop, and the
player reads "buffering"?
Why does the video look poor?
Why does the video look choppy?
Will clearing my computer's cache
solve my audio/video problem?
Netscape Navigator 3.x:
Netscape Navigator 4.x:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.x:
Why can't I hear any sound? Why
is there hiss and clicks, and sometimes no sound at all?
Windows Media Player errors: "the
specified stream type is not recognized", or the colors appear strange,
or the video is fine but there is no audio.
Are you running Windows NT? NT users who do not have permission to install
software will see the media player installation run and appear to work,
but in reality the codecs (the compression algorithm for the media file)
don't get updated which will cause problems.
Further Support
webcast-support@streamcast.com.au
Windows Media Player 9 Support
Windows Media Player 7.1 Support
Windows Media Player 7.1 FAQ Site