Videos that play on the computer screen can be in any one of more than a dozen formats.  Each format was made by one or more computer companies and each has it's own pluses and minuses when compared to the others.  Microsoft has created several formats including one of the most popular formats known as "WMV".  "WMV" stands for "Windows Media Video".

The advantage of using the WMV format when making a movie is that the video and audio are very clear.  The disadvantage is that the file size is larger than for some other file formats.  When we distribute a screencast teaching how to use a software program, the value of a clear video and good audio outweigh the large file size.

 Microsoft gives away a player for WMV files called "Media Player".  The current version is called "Media Player 11" and the next version (12) is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released as part of "Windows 7" when it comes out as a replacement for Windows Vista. 

You can download Media Player 10 from Microsoft at this address...

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/10/default.aspx

Or Windows Media Player 11 at this address...

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx 

Once you install the program you should be able to play .wmv files and .wma files by simply double-clicking on them.  There are a few problems that usera have reported with Media Player 10 and I'll cover them next.

Video Is Too Small To See Clearly

This is the easiest problem to fix.  Simply grab the  bottom right corner of the player and drag it to make the viewing screen larger.

ActiveSync Causes Error Message

If you have Media Player 9 installed on your computer and then upgrade to Media Player 10 or Media Player 11 you will probably notice an error message everytime you start the Media Player.  It says to "Connect mobile device...".   You can simply cancel that message and continue to play the video.  When you are tired of clicking "Cancel" every time you want to view a video, you can fix the problem by updating ActiveSync to version 4.5 or newer.  Here's where you can download a later version of ActiveSync from Microsoft...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/microsoft/activesync-download.mspx

No Audo On Some WMV files

Another problem that has been reported is that a movie will play but there is no audio.  After checking that the speakers work okay you can trace this problem down to a change in the registry file. 

Warning:   Changes to your registry can really mess up your computer so don't do this if you don't know what you're doing!  If you are not a "Geeky" person, find a friend or relative who is to make this change for you.  And if you decide to do it yourself, be SURE you backup your registry before you make the changes! 

RUN:  regedit

This entry contains the line "AutoInsert"=dword:00000001"...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\NodeCLSIDs\{95037DA1-6ED9-4B27-8CFF-9AD3DFB0B2F2}]
"Priority"=dword:fffffffb
"AutoInsert"=dword:00000001
"Name"="WMPlayer SRSWow DMO"

Change that line to ""AutoInsert"=dword:00000000"  so it looks like this...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\NodeCLSIDs\{95037DA1-6ED9-4B27-8CFF-9AD3DFB0B2F2}]
"Priority"=dword:fffffffb
"AutoInsert"=dword:00000000
"Name"="WMPlayer SRSWow DMO"

Save and Exit.

Note:  While this level of article depth is most often reserved for our "Computer Essentials" section (which is members-only content) I am putting this article into "Computer Tips" which is public-access as the fixes for the above problems will be useful to people doing Google searches who would have no need for embroidery designs.