Video FAQ

Video is optimized for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows XP.

Windows users not running XP will need Windows Media Player 9.

Mac users will need Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X.

If you are having problems viewing video clips, first upgrade your video player.

Note: To determine the version of Windows Media Player, Right click on the video window and choose About, and then note the version number below the Copyright notice.

Minimum system requirements for Windows Media Player 10 for Windows:

• Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Media Center Edition, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
• Processor: A 233 megahertz (MHz) processor, such as an Intel Pentium II or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor
• Memory: 64 megabytes (MB)
• Free hard disk space: 100 MB
• Monitor color depth: Super VGA (800 x 600) resolution
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or Netscape 7.1

Minimum system requirements for Windows Media Player 9 for Windows:

• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows Millennium Edition
• Processor: A 233 megahertz (MHz) processor, such as an Intel Pentium II or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor
• Memory: 64 megabytes (MB)
• Free hard disk space: 100 MB
• Monitor color depth: Super VGA (800 x 600) resolution
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or Netscape Navigator 4.7

Minimum system requirements for Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X:

• Operating system: Apple Mac OS X version 10.1.5 (latest version 10.2.x recommended)
• Any computer supported by Mac OS X version 10.1.5 (450 megahertz (MHz) PowerPC G3 processor or higher recommended)
• Memory: 128 megabytes (MB) or higher
• Free hard disk space: 10 MB
• Monitor color depth: 256 colors (Millions of colors recommended)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 for Mac, America Online for Mac OS X, Netscape 7.1, MSN for Mac OS X version 2.0, or Apple Safari 1.0

Upgrading Windows Media Player
When you install Windows Media Player, an update feature is also installed. You can check for updates whenever you want. If updates are available, you can minimize the download time by downloading only the portions of Windows Media Player that you want to update. If you want to completely reinstall Windows Media Player, you can use the update feature for this too.

Windows Media Player checks for upgrades once a month by default. To change how often upgrades are checked for Open your Windows Media Player and click Options.

Under Check for Upgrade, click one of the following:
— Once a day
— Once a week
— Once a month

You can check for an upgrade whenever you like by clicking Check For Player Upgrades on the Help menu of Windows Media Player.

Video Q & A

Why can't I get video to play on my computer at work?
Some network administrators may block streaming video in the workplace. Contact your companies IT department for assistance.

Why won't Windows Media Player install on my computer at work?
Some network administrators may limit the rights of users to install or upgrade programs on their computers. Contact your company's IT department for assistance.

I have Windows NT or Windows 95. Can I play your videos?
Unfortunately, the most current Windows Media Player available for those platforms is version 6.4, which is not compatible with our video.

How can I adjust my firewall to play streaming Windows Media files?
According to Microsoft, you may need to open additional ports in your firewall. This document briefly explains firewalls, describes how Windows Media interacts with firewalls, and offers suggested firewall settings: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/
Netshow/deploy/fwconfig.mspx

I'm getting an error message C00D11D4 or Invalid Request. What does this mean?
This error relates to the proxy settings of your computer. More information from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/
knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/0069.mspx#EAB
Try solving the error by un-checking UDP under Tools --> Options --> Network. Close media player, then re-open it and try to look at the content again.

Why am I having issues with Firefox and Windows Media Player?
There is a known problem with the Windows Media Player 9.0 installer. If the player controls look like they are from an older version of Windows Media Player, you may need to adjust your plugins. Reinstalling Windows Media Player may also fix this issue.

More information on this and additional Firefox browser issues are covered in this Complete Embedded and Streaming Quicktime/Real/Windows Media Player Guide for Windows Users.

How can I watch videos if a have a pop-up blocker installed?
Set your pop-up blocker to allow pop-ups from this site. Most settings are modified in the program's "settings," "options" or "block/allow" features. Firefox browser users can change the pop-up settings by going to Tools --> Options --> Web Features and clicking on the Allowed Sites button.

I'm getting an error message. What does it mean?
Information on Windows Media Player error messages is available from Microsoft at support.microsoft.com.
• Error code information for Windows Media Player 10 (Windows)
• Error code information for Windows Media Player 9 (Windows)
• Error code information for Windows Media Player 9 Series (Mac OS X)

When I run Windows Media Player 7 or later, and I try to play video files streamed from the Internet, I only hear the audio. Why does this happen, and how can I fix it?
When you receive streamed content, communication occurs between the Player and a Windows Media server regarding the connection speed of your computer. If the Player communicates an incorrect connection speed to the server, the server may try to "thin" the stream, which means that the stream quality decreases and the Player may lose video altogether. You can prevent this from happening accidentally by manually specifying the connection speed. Open your Windows Media Player, you can specify your connection speed on the Performance tab of the Options dialog box.

It is also possible that you may not have the video codec that is required to decode and display the video. For more information about obtaining the correct codec, see the Playback Issues section.

Why does the Player disconnect sometimes when it starts playing content?
The Player may be detecting your connection speed incorrectly. Open your Windows Media Player, you can manually specify your connection speed on the Performance tab of the Options dialog box.

For more information about manually specifying connection speeds in Windows Media Player 6.4, see article 253798, "Windows Media Player May Stop Responding or Generate an Error Message When Streaming Media," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

Why does the Player temporarily pause when I play content from the Internet?
In some cases, firewalls block Universal Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic, which is the protocol required to play streaming content. In those cases, the Player is forced to use the HTTP/TCP protocol, which causes buffering and pauses when there is network congestion. To find out whether the Player is pausing (buffering) due to network congestion, you can compare the bandwidth the Player is currently using against the available bandwidth. Open your Windows Media Player, on the View menu, click Statistics, and then click the Advanced tab.

Why does my Windows Media Player turn green/upside down?
When your Internet connection doesn't have sufficient download capacity, the Windows Media Player (WMP) screen turns green and the video image turns upsidedown. This is due to using a Multi Bitrate Stream and a known behavior of WMP.

When WMP 10 thins the video stream by selecting a lower bit rate, sometimes it resizes the video. When it does, certain video formats give a negative size. This problem occurs because negative sizes aren't appropriately handled in the underlying Microsoft Windows Media Format components.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft here

Click here for more information about the Windows Media 10 Player.