crashing with media player

I finally figuered out why my computer would only boot to safe mode every so often and then I would need to restore it for correct operation.

Every month or so windpws update looks at my computer and suggest that I install windows media player 9.0. I finally noticed that media player 9 was causing my computer to only boot in safe mode. This last time this happened, I uninstalled media player and my computer works fine! I would only use media player to view videos and listen to audio online. Do I need it? How do I install without messing up my computer? Should I download "real player" or some other software?
Thanks,
Jim

 

No! don't download real player. it will take over your computer. find a different media player, like divx (www.divx.com). i'm not saying use divx, but something like divx. someone else here will be able to give you a good recommendation for a media player.

i use winamp 2.x for audio, and whatever for video.

 

You could try downloading an earlier version of Media Player, e.g., 7 or 6.4.

Which OS are you using?

 

I'm using win 98---I have an earlier version, but it doesn't seem to play all videos that require windows media player.

 

If it is pure Win 98 not Win 98 SE (Second Edition) then Media Player 9 will not install and you have to use at best Media Player 7.1. However, both Win 98 and SE come with a base version of Media Player 6 (usually upgraded to 6.4) which remains even though you install 7.1. I suspect that you have Win 98 SE.

However, the media player does require codecs in order to play certain types of media but cannot cope with proprietary media types such as Real Player audio and movies or QuickTime equivalents.

Which media type do to wish to play?

 

I want to play vidoes from different sites and audio from different sites.

 

Yes, but you haven't said what media file type, for example videos come in .avi, .mpeg, .ram, .wmv, etc. file types and sound come in other file types. Which specific media file type do you wish to play?

As said before if you want to play Real Movie (.ram) files then you need Real Player.

Something like WinAmp can play many media types but if you want Windows Media player (WMP) to work correctly for whatever media type you need then you may need to download codecs or re-install WMP or tweak its hardware acceleration settings. However, WMP cannot play all types of media hence the question what media file types do you wish to play?

 

I'm not familier enough with the different formats to say---I'd just like to be able to play the most common types.

 

OK, Windows Media Player (WMP) in various forms can be downloaded from this site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp

Here is Microsoft support for WMP: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?ID=FH;EN-US;wmp

However, this won't play Real Media or QuickTime Media and you need the associated dedicated player for these.

If this doesn't solve your problem try something like Winamp: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2490

 

could anyone possibly tell me how you uninstall the media player???