Windows Media Player is perhaps one of the world’s most simplest and elegant media players. It’s an inescapable part of the Windows experience. No matter how many players are there which are more classy and more featured, yet there is nothing more simple that windows media player on the Internet, it’s hard to resist the urge to turn to the simple, no-fuss attraction of good old WMP.It works without much fuss and it plays your files without hassle.
Today we have rounded up 10 tips that will surely help you get more out of your windows media player.
Enable Streaming
Subtitles
Not only is it in your best interests to make sure that your system is set up for Homegroup sharing (click “Stream” and the “Turn on media streaming…” option), but you’ll also want to enable the back-and-forth connections that allow WMP to automatically see other devices on your network (and vice versa). Hit up the Network and Sharing Center via your Control Panel and click on “Advanced Sharing Settings” on the left side of the window. Turn on Network Discovery and Media Streaming.
Removing Library Restrictions
BM Productions is two-for-two in this little Windows Media Player tome of knowledge. The creators of the aforementioned Windows Media Player Plus! Application are at it again, armed this time with a plug-in that gives your common application access to even more file formats than it could previously support!
Yes, that’s right. Their plug-in called WMP Tag Plus will unlock the ability to add MPEG-4, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and WavPack files into your WMP library. You won’t be able to play them, however—check out some of the “additional packages” that BM Productions recommends if you really want WMP to be your default audio gateway for your massive FLAC collection. Shoot, we were happy enough to be able to edit FLAC metadata within WMP.
Hotkeys
It’s not that difficult to use Windows Media Player’s built-in hotkeys to control elements like song playback, rewinding, looping, et cetera. So what’s the problem? You have to actually switch over to the application in order to use said shortcuts—you can’t just jam CTRL+P inside any window to pause or play a particular song in question.
WMPKeys fixes that by giving you new, global hotkeys for a few of WMP’s more commonly used features. Mash the correct combination and you’ll be able to skip tracks, play music, and even rate songs no matter what window or application you’re staring at.
Lock Your PC
Let’s face it. Life is short. One doesn’t always have time to pause a sound file or otherwise stop one’s jam session when more important issues beckon for whatever reason. That’s where the third-party app MonitorES comes into the picture. If you have to jet away for a period of time, just lock your PC (with the handy Windows Key+L shortcut combination, to note). MonitorES will not only pause your music in Windows Media Player, but it’ll also flip your monitor off and set the status of your instant messaging clients to whatever you’d like. Easy as pie.
Codecs
Good question. If you go to play a movie file on your hard drive, only to find that Windows Media Player is giving you the soundtrack instead of the visual picture to go with it, then odds are pretty good that you lack the appropriate digital resources to decode your file into an actual video. In short, you’re missing the right codec.
Rather than get trapped in the big, “should you install them or not?” argument when it comes to codecs, we will leave you with this: the Combined Community Codec Pack is easy to install, simple to set up, and comes with no external trappings, obtrusive toolbars, or annoying clutter. If you want to watch every video under the sun, install it!
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You get very few rights, by default, when it comes to debit cards. Most of the "rights" you have come in the form of incentives from your bank. Banks will often offer fraud protection packages with their accounts and cards, so be sure to call your bank and find out what rights they're offering for your specific type of account. Generally these rights are pretty decent with major banks. What you need to be more concerned with are the ways they'll charge you fees for minor mistakes on your part. Overdraft feeds are now much more limited, cutting out a huge source of revenue for banks. Additionally, interchange rates are now being capped as of July 1st, 2011, meaning banks can only make so much money in merchant feeds every time you swipe your card. The more restrictions imposed on the banks means the more creative ways they need to find to start charging fees. While nothing is in place just yet, the Wall Street Journal points out that the following fees are likely to show up this year:
Banks may also do away with debit card rewards programs, so you may want to consider cashing in your rewards points sooner than later. Bank of America, for example, is already testing some of these out by offering an Essentials checking account that comes with a debit card fee. Once account, called eBanking is already in place. If you get an eBanking account you get everything fee-free unless you see a teller. If you see a banking teller, you get hit with a fee. As a current Bank of America customer, I've noticed they're trying to keep me away from the teller window already and I have a regular checking account. If there's something I can do at the ATM but go to the teller because I have a question, I have, on multiple occasions, been walked over to the ATM machine and watched as I used it. This is just a taste of what's to come. As soon as next month, many banks are imposing new fees and restrictions on both your accounts and debit cards. Call your bank for more information, read any mail they send you, and be prepared to alter the way you use your debit card and bank account to avoid getting hit with surprise charges.
Debit cards are not credit cards, even though they operate in very similar ways, but sometimes it can be easy to see them as interchangeable tools. A debit card is really just a quicker means of writing a check. When you write a check, the funds are withdrawn from your account as soon as the check is cashed. The same goes for a debit card, only this happens much faster and is sometimes instantaneous. Anyone who's used a debit card is probably well aware of this, but it's not necessarily what we're aware of when we're actually using the card. It's so important to remember that using a debit card means your money is now gone. There isn't much wiggle room for error. If you pump too much gas and you cause an overdraft of your account—which is still a legal overdraft because of how gas stations charge your card—you're stuck with it. Even with new consumer protection laws preventing banks from allowing us to charge more on our debit cards than our balance can cover, there are still many ways overdrafts can happen.
Going back to the example of purchasing gas for your car, let's break down how this charge works and why you can receive an overdraft. If you pay at the pump, your card is initially charged $1 to ensure it will be approved after you finish pumping gas. This is because the gas station doesn't know the size of your tank, how much gas you're going to put in it, and, therefore, what the total cost of gas will be. Say you want to put $30 of gas in your car because that's all you've got in your bank account and you accidentally go over. Your account will overdraft because your bank has guaranteed the charge to the gas station, just like it would with a check. Because the amount is unknown, those overdrafts are still allowed. Your bank can't deny an amount it's unaware of, but it can honor the charge and assess a fee if you can't cover it. Any situation like this, where the final amount is unknown, will still cause overdrafts. There is nothing protecting you, and so you need to protect yourself. The easiest way is to simply pay up front so the charge will be denied if you can't cover it and so you won't be able to go over the pre-paid amount even if you try. While in an ideal situation you'd keep enough money in your account to avoid overdrafts entirely, you can always forget and always make a mistake so it's best to be careful in this situation.
Another common way of over-drafting your account is when certain kinds of other charges don't show up immediately and you forget about them. Let's say you do not have a credit card that you can use to pay your bills and you only have your checking account and the debit card associated with that account. If you pay your bills using automatic withdrawal (ACH electronic funds transfer), these charges are not protected from overdrafts. Whenever you can, pay your bills with your debit card instead of using automatic withdrawal. This will shift your worst-case scenario from ending up with overdraft charges to simply failing to pay your bill on time. Generally, if a bill is not paid on time, the late fee is considerably less than the overdraft fee and you may not even have to pay that late fee if you can manage to pay your bill within the next few days. You want to avoid automatic withdrawal whenever possible for this reason. Try to reserve wire transfers for money going into your account (e.g., direct deposit for your paycheck).
There are many ways you can become a victim of debit card fraud, but it's a lot easier online. While it helps to be aware of common scams,you can't be on top of everything at all times. Despite your best efforts, being a victim of fraud is still a possibility. If you can't use a credit card in place of your debit card when shopping online, check with your bank to see if disposable/virtual credit cards are available to you. If you're not familiar, these are basically single-use numbers, often with set limits, that expire after use. While these virtual, disposable numbers may work the same as your debit card and withdraw money immediately, you don't have to worry about someone else finding that number, using it, and draining your bank account.
When you're out making purchases in the real world, there are still a number of risks. For example, many businesses—particularly restaurants—still print credit and debit card receipts with your entire number on them. This is particularly bad because your number is exposed to anyone who sees that receipt. Check your receipts when you make purchases to ensure the full number is not included. If it is, use the pen you're signing with to black out all but the first or last four numbers of your card.
If a fraudulent charge of any kind may have been made to your debit card, you're generally pretty well protected. While banks only have to cover resulting damages past $500 on your credit card, many offer better protection ($50, and sometimes less) as an incentive. Be sure to check with your bank to know how protected you really are in the event someone steals and uses your debit card. If debit card fraud could cost you quite a bit, it may be time to find a new bank.
Let’s see the results:
