Connecting to the Internet

Make sure that, on the File menu, the Work Offline command is not selected. Also, you can make the Player connect to the Internet by doing the following:

If the problem continues, run the Internet Connection Wizard by doing the following:

If you have Windows Media Player 7 installed, for more information about troubleshooting an Internet connection, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see article 272487, "Windows Media Player 7 Does Not Recognize a Connection to the Internet."

If your computer is behind a firewall, see Firewall information for Windows Media Services 9 Series for information about configuring User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

Note that some firewall and security devices, such as Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Pro, can prevent the Player from working, so it may be necessary to grant specific permissions to the Player. To do this in ZoneAlarm Pro, specify medium security, or specify ports 554 and 1755 as the outgoing TCP ports.

Some sites require that you have cookies turned on before you are allowed to play content, so if you have cookies turned off in your Internet browser, the Player might not be able to play some files.

If you are using Netscape versions 6.2 to 7.0 as your primary browser, you may find that Windows Media Player 7 and Windows Media Player for Windows XP have problems detecting a connection to the Internet. You may have better results if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer as your primary browser. Note that networking continues to improve with each version of the Windows operating system and the Player. For an optimal experience, update to the most recent version of the Player.

If your computer is not connected to a network and you try to use the Internet Connection Wizard to configure your Internet connection, you may get the following error message: "Access Denied: You are restricted from running the Internet Connection Wizard. Contact your Network Administrator for more information." For more information about resolving this connectivity issue, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see article 246883, "Error Message When You Run the Internet Connection Wizard on a Non-Networked Computer."

Web browser pop-up windows (such as advertisements) might open if you use the Player to listen to certain radio stations. The radio stations, not the Player, control whether any windows are opened and which Web pages those windows display. The Player does not open browser pop-up windows.

If pop-up windows open automatically when you start your computer or the Player, or if the Player starts every time you restart your computer, spyware or other deceptive software might be installed on your computer. For more information about how to detect and remove spyware, see Spyware.

This is most likely caused by networking problems. For information about resolving networking problems, see How do I stop Windows Media Player from acting as if I'm always offline?

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. In Windows Media Player 7 or later, you can specify your connection speed, by doing the following:

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 Using codecs FAQ.

The Always dial my default connection feature for your dial-up connection is turned on. For more information about turning off this option, see Windows Help and Support. For more information about preventing Windows Media Player 9 Series or later from going online, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see article 822964, "Windows Media Player 9 Series Downloads Radio Preset Information."

The Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI) support for your modem is not functioning correctly. For more information about fixing this problem, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see article 253798, "Windows Media Player May Stop Responding or Generate an Error Message When Streaming Media."

For Windows Media Player 7 or later, manually specify your connection speed. For information about how to specify your connection speed, see When I try to play video files streamed from the Internet, why do I only hear the audio?

The Player may be detecting your connection speed incorrectly. For Windows Media Player 7 or later, you can manually specify your connection speed. For information on how to specify your connection speed, see When I try to play video files streamed from the Internet, why do I only hear the audio?

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

For information about resolving this problem, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see article 253798, "Windows Media Player May Stop Responding or Generate an Error Message When Streaming Media."

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. On the View menu, click Statistics, and then click the Advanced tab.

When you receive a stream from the Internet, the value displayed in Bandwidth in use may be higher than the value shown in Selected bit rate. This occurs because Bandwidth in use includes the total bandwidth, including overhead bandwidth used for the Windows Media stream and for network traffic. Selected bit rate includes only the actual bit rate of the content being streamed.

If you do not find an answer to your question in this FAQ, try the following resources:

To find the error code identification number for a particular error message, on the error message, do one of the following:

For information about Windows Media Player error messages, see Troubleshooting Windows Media Player Error Messages.