downloading movies???

[tiffyp]

hey can anyone help? anytime i download a movie it either doesn't open at all or it opens on imovie. does anyone know how to change the settings for this sort of thing so i can actually watch stuff?????

[stief]

if you are using OSX, just click on the file and use Get Info--you'll see the option to change the "Open With" to something besides iMovie.

The QuickTime Player is best, but if that doesn't work, vlc and mplayer are the next best free choices.

[tiffyp]

I still cant seem to get it to work. i cant find that "open with" thing. I am really not good with these things. so could someone please give me the idiots guide to playing movies!!??

[stief]

Which OS are you using (see Apple Menu->"About This Mac"), and do you know how to use the "Get Info" command?

[tiffyp]

Its OSX version 10.2.8 and i have no idea about that get info command? i sound so stupid!!

[stief]

no problem . . . we all start somewhere. Learning where files are stored and how to get your machine set up the way you want isn't easy the first time.

If your Shared folder shows in your Library in Limewire, click once on it and choose the "Explore button"

That will open the folder on your hard drive so you can see the files inside. Click once on a movie to select it, go to the file menu and choose "Get Info" (or just use the keyboard shortcut command-i), and you'll see all the settings for that file.

THe Open With setting allows you to choose the application to Open that file. If Quick Time Player isn't already shown, you'll have to use the "other" option to call up a list of your applications until you can choose QuickTime Player

Let me know if that works.

[tiffyp]

itr said "quicktime is missing software... unfortunatly not availiable on quicktime server" do you know what that means?? by the way thanks for helping me so much!!

[stief]

glad to pay back (forward?)

Yes, the message means that quicktime can't get the coder/decoder that was used to create the file (called the "codec"). This is a problem with what I call "the media wars" over who can dominate the code used for all sorts of media. They try to lock us in to one kind: we just get confused.

Luckily, there are at least two other free players, vlc and mplayer that can often work when quicktime can't.

Here are the links to download and install the players for OSX. Once installed, you can set these with the Get Info trick and see if they work.

for vlc
for mplayer