There can be no doubt that Windows Media Player (also referred to as WM Player) that comes bundled with Microsoft Windows operating system, is quite a competent player of audio/video files. However, there may be other third party media players that you install in your PC. Besides, Windows Media Player does not come with many different codecs, which may be included in other media players. For instance, AVI files cannot be played without adding additional codecs in the Windows Media Player, but other players like VLC, GOM Player, and Zoom Video Player are installed with the codecs.
This causes a lot of users to prefer using other media players over WM Player. If you are one of those users, you must have been plagued with the hassle of having to right click the media files before playing, scrolling down to the option Open With, and clicking on the name of the player from the menu that slides out from the option.
Wouldn't it be nice if the media player of your choice opened up and started playing media files whenever you double clicked on the files? Setting it is actually quite easy, especially if you are using Windows XP in your PC.
Here's how you can do it:
1. Right click on the media file stored in your hard disk.
2. From the context menu that pops up, choose the option "Open With".
3. The "Open With" box will open. Select the media player you want to use, by clicking on its name in the list of applications.
4. If the media player of your choice is somehow not showing in the list, click on the button named "Browse" at the bottom of the list.
5. An Open box will pop up. Browse to the folder where that media player executable is located and select it by clicking on it.
6. Click on "Open" and you will be back at the "Open With" window with the name of the player you selected already highlighted in it.
7. There is a box below the window with the list, which says, "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file". Check the box beside this option.
8. Click on OK. The icon of the media file stored in the folder should change to the icon of the player that you just selected.
From then on, the selected media player will play that type of media file whenever you double click on the files. This may not hold true for other types of media files, however. In that case you will have to repeat the process for those files as well. Learn also how you can disable recent files list in Media Player and start afresh.
Anne Envisonite - Having graduated from University in Journalism, I am now a full time freelance writer with a passion for I.T. You can follow some of my ...
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