Windows Media Player opens slowly, and by default stays open after the file is played

This page includes instructions on configuring your system to STOP using the slow WMplayer and Real Player for WAV's and MIDI's, so that you can play them instantly !!! This is only useful fo those who need to play multiple waves and/or midis (especially short wavs).

If you play a wav or midi once in a while, the delay of starting WMplayer and/or Real Player is no biggie so keep using WMplayer or Real Player !!! Also, for MP3's and Video clips - just keep using WMplayer, or WinAmp, or Real Player !!!

Mplayer.exe

Mplay32.exe

Mplayer2.exe
(Active Movie)

WMplayer.exe
(with one of the many "skins")

Version of Windows	Audio Player for Wav's and Midi's
Win 3.1	MediaPlayer.exe
Win 95	Mplayer.exe, SoundRec.exe
Win98	Mplayer2.exe, SoundRec32.exe, WMplayer.exe (as an add-on)
Win XP	SoundRec32.exe, Mplay32.exe, WMplayer.exe

Mplayer.exe - the earliest, and fastest version of Windows Media Player, simply called "Media Player".

NOTE: on WinXP, Mplayer.exe = Mplay32.exe !!
There really is no Mplayer for WinXP. Instead, it just opens Mplay32. Mplay32.exe is under Win XP's WFP (Windows File Protection). Even if you delete the file, it is restored automatically. Now, if you run mplayer.exe on WinXP for the first time, it may give an error message and if you answer “Yes” to fix the problem, it will automatically run c:\windows\system32\Mplay32.exe whenever you try to run mplayer. Even if you delete Mplay32.exe, WinXP will recreate it next time you try to run mplayer.exe. Oddly, it may still retain the look of mplayer even though it is using mplay32

Mplayer2.exe (Active Movie - Windows Media Player v6.4)– this was the beginning of what we now know as "WMplayer, or Windows Media Player". It was originally called "Active Movie" and it came bundled with Win98. It is not as fast as mplayer.exe, but us still much faster than Windows Media Player. It is my personal favorite - very clean, simple interface and it plays audio and video.

Mplay32.exe (v5.1) – this version comes with WinXP, and is a very fast alternative to Windows Media Player - It has a look and feel similar to the earliest media player, mplayer.exe

SndRec32.exe – ( wav’s only - plays and records) this is the Win98 (v4.10.1998) and WinXP Pro (v5.1.2600.0) version of the simple, SoundRec.exe from Win95. It is a recorder but also can play wav files. By default, WinXP Pro opens Wav’s with sndrec32.exe, but it is not configured to autostart them and close them after play.

Wmplayer.exe - (wavs, midis, and video) - this is "Windows Media Player". It comes bundled with Win XP and is installed at:

NOTE: the same folder has "Active Movie" (media player2) at:
C:\program files\windows media player\mplayer2.exe

Wmplayer is the most recent version. It comes with WinXP but is also downloadable for all versions of Windows. It is the slowest but most feature-rich of all the players, and will even load mp3’s into portable devices and burn CD’s.

The Problem with Windows Media Player (WMplayer) and Real Player (RealPlay.exe) is they are DOG SLOW TO OPEN !!! - so why use them for Audio Files ???

There are many times where you want to quickly play a few short wavs, such as some funny clips you just downloaded.

With older versions of Windows, they would immediately open up in SoundRec, play, and close. You could run through a bunch of them in a minute or so.

But with Win98 and XP, the "New and Improved" player . . . WMplayer (Windows Media Player) takes over. It takes a few seconds to open (it is NOT IMMEDIATE), which may not sound like a lot - but it is. It slows you way down. Your system may be configured to use Real Player instead . . . same problem . . . sloooooooooow !!!

Well, as you go through and double-click on small wav files, you need a player that plays them quickly and then closes. Bottom line.

The Fix - here we give you a workaround on using the already included small players that are already on your system. WMplayer or RealPlayer may again take over your system - they are very persistent - but your will know how to once again defeat them.

You may also want to do this for video files as well, using mplayer2.exe. Windows Media Player opens slowly, and by default stays open after the file is played. When you want to sample numerous wav files, you want to double-click each one and have it instantly play, and then have the player close. To do that, you need to change the player from Windows Media Player to one of the faster versions.

1) if Real Player or Wmplayer is the default, they have a nasty habit or reclaiming the file association.

Real Player - goto Start/Programs/Real/Real Player to open it - and then select Tools/Preferences and uncheck the boxes that tell Real Player to be the default for Wav and Midi files

Wmplayer – got Tools/Options/File Types tab - then uncheck “Audio File (wav’s) and “Midi File (mid’s)

NOTE: if the files still play in either Real or Wmplayer, open Windows explorer and goto Tools/Folder Options . . . Files types tab, and then search for entries that may be causing this, and delete them.

This is where you tell Windows what application to load and the parameters such as /Play and /Close. The /Close often does not work – TIP: always include the “%L” after it, and copy the player exe file to c:\windows so that you don’t need double-quotes

The %L and “%1” switches - after a path and filename, you may see either “%l” or “%L” - the one that looks like a “one” is actually a one – and not a lower case “L”. At any rate, the system often inserts a “%1” automatically, but “%L” seems to work better.

Double-quotes - you may notice double-quotes around the path & filename. These are really only needed if the path has a space in it, such as:

Association Before: wmplayer.exe or Real Player (or sndrec32.exe if these apps have not hijacked your wavs association

Association After: sndrec OR (if no worky) try mplayer.exe, mplay32.exe, or mplayer2.exe

If using WinXP Pro. The default for wavs is sndrec32.exe but it is not configured to autostart them or close them after play.

In Windows Explorer, go to Tools/Folder Options, and click the "File Types" tab. The file types dialog box shows up, scroll down and select "WAV" :

for Windows XP Pro a new button has been added – the “Change” button. When clicked, instead of the usual “Open” or “Play” entries to a specific exe file, it shows application objects that you can select from to play this file type, as follows:

This selects the application to be used to play the file. To play your wavs with SndRec32.exe, select "Sound Recorder Accessory", and click OK To go back to the "File Types" box.

The Problem is - "Change" does not work well with WMplayer and Real Player changes - because they take over your computers and do not relinquish being the default wav's player easily !!!

Disable both WMplayer and RealPlay as described above. Now, this should remove their entries in the "File Types" box. It actually does remove it for WMplayer, but RealPlay does not let go !! So click on it and click "Delete" to delete that entry:

Click "New" and type in "WAV" as the file extension. You will now have a new file type with no player assigned to it.

Click on the file type, WAV, to highlight it, and click "Change". The box below pops up - click "Select Program from a List":

in Windows Explorer, test your new file type by double-clicking a wav file - the Sound Recorder utility will "Immediately Open" - unlike WMplayer and Real Player which take forever . . . the file should also automatically Play and Close when finished !!!

NOTE1: for some reason, if you go back into File Types and view the list - your new "WAV" file type that you just created will not be there - but it works !!

NOTE2: Open, Play, and Close - most people want a double-clicked wav to open, then play, then have the player close itself. Open always works - but sometimes the player may require you to click the "Play" button to play it, or it may auto-play but require you to close it. But usually this method will cause Sound Recorder to automatically Open, Play, and Close for you.

But what if it does not Play and Close Automatically? Well, normally you can go into File Types and click the "Advanced" button and add those actions as options on the command line. But for a File Type where you have clicked the "Change" button - maddeningly, WinXP replaces the "Advanced" button with a "Restore" button. So you must use a workaround which may require quite a bit of Trial and Error with hacking the Registry. I got it to work on my system in about an hour:

Association After: mplayer2.exe, OR (if no worky) mplay32.exe, or mplayer.exe

use mplayer2.exe !!!

First - open mplayer2.exe, goto View/Options/Format . . . click the Midi checkbox, then close it. See if a midi file from Explorer will now play in mplayer2. Then follow the directions below to cause it to autoplay and autoclose when completed:

NOTE: you may see file types with extensions “mid” and “midi” but with no apparent association, and although you have unchecked the Midi File option in Wmplayer, it still opens and plays midis.

Then, either delete the entry and create a new one, or edit the entry - creating the following one action: