multiple instances wmp

I don't have vista yet. Is it possible to use multiple instances of windows media player at the same time in vista? For example, at work I often like listening to music or internet radio playing in the background but then I may want to play a video in the foreground but I don't want my existing media player to be disturbed while I watch the video for a short time. Just curious.
By the way, does WMP still minimize to the task bar (mini-player mode) or does it minimize to the sidebar instead?
Thanks.

I can't open multiple instances in build 5308.
It minimizes to a small set of taskbar controls like in XP.
"joel" wrote in message

I don't have vista yet. Is it possible to use multiple instances of windows media player at the same time in vista? For example, at work I often like listening to music or internet radio playing in the background but then I may want to play a video in the foreground but I don't want my existing media player to be disturbed while I watch the video for a short time. Just curious.
By the way, does WMP still minimize to the task bar (mini-player mode) or does it minimize to the sidebar instead?
Thanks.

I'm not on my vista box right now, so can't verify if it's there or not, but you could always open the video using mplayer2.exe which is normally found in the media player folder in program files.
Scøtt Live Messenger FAQs - http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Puppy Breath wrote:

I can't open multiple instances in build 5308.
It minimizes to a small set of taskbar controls like in XP.
"joel" wrote in message I don't have vista yet. Is it possible to use multiple instances of windows media player at the same time in vista? For example, at work I often like listening to music or internet radio playing in the background but then I may want to play a video in the foreground but I don't want my existing media player to be disturbed while I watch the video for a short time. Just curious.
By the way, does WMP still minimize to the task bar (mini-player mode) or does it minimize to the sidebar instead?
Thanks.

Yeah, but thats WMP 6, I think Joel is looking for the ability to watch multiple videos with WMP 10 or 11. This is not possible in build 5365. Also, I don't see the point, you can't watch two videos at the same time, you would be confused, you brain wouldn't be able to concentrate on both. So, I think its this way for reason. Unless you plan on using WMP for surveilance, and you still you would not be able to watch all of the videos at the same time. -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" wrote in message

I'm not on my vista box right now, so can't verify if it's there or not, but you could always open the video using mplayer2.exe which is normally found in the media player folder in program files.
Scøtt Live Messenger FAQs - http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Puppy Breath wrote: I can't open multiple instances in build 5308.
It minimizes to a small set of taskbar controls like in XP.
"joel" wrote in message I don't have vista yet. Is it possible to use multiple instances of windows media player at the same time in vista? For example, at work I often like listening to music or internet radio playing in the background but then I may want to play a video in the foreground but I don't want my existing media player to be disturbed while I watch the video for a short time. Just curious.
By the way, does WMP still minimize to the task bar (mini-player mode) or does it minimize to the sidebar instead?
Thanks.

Andre Da Costa [Extended64] wrote:

Yeah, but thats WMP 6, I think Joel is looking for the ability to watch multiple videos with WMP 10 or 11. This is not possible in build 5365. Also, I don't see the point, you can't watch two videos at the same time, you would be confused, you brain wouldn't be able to concentrate on both. So, I think its this way for reason. Unless you plan on using WMP for surveilance, and you still you would not be able to watch all of the videos at the same time.

The OP didn't want to watch two videos at one time. He wanted to have one instance stopped in the background (perhaps so a movie or playlist wasn't disturbed) yet be able to switch to another piece of media on an adhoc basis. I think that was perfectly understandable (and desirable).

I can't open multiple instances in build 5308.
It minimizes to a small set of taskbar controls like in XP.

Thanks for the info.

you could always open the video using mplayer2.exe

Good point. I remember hearing that suggestion even for XP, but I think I gave up on it because the interface is so incredibly old.
Right now in XP, I can listen to audio from an embedded WMP in IE and have the full version of WMP open at the same time. Maybe that is possible because one is the ActiveX control and the other is the regular .exe application. I don't know much about the sidebar yet, but maybe it is possible to use the WMP ActiveX control in the sidebar, leaving the full application still available. Or perhaps I could use a 3rd party player in addition to WMP, but I like using WMP. Oh well...

The OP didn't want to watch two videos at one time. He wanted to have one instance stopped in the background (perhaps so a movie or playlist wasn't disturbed) yet be able to switch to another piece of media on an adhoc basis. I think that was perfectly understandable (and desirable).

You have the right idea. I do multimedia development work, so it is common for me to have music playing in the background as general ambience. However in the course of the day I may need to play an .avi video file I just rendered from Adobe After Effects (which may not even have audio to it) or something like that. The background music would just continue or I could mute it. Maybe that isn't a common usage scenario, but that is how I would like to do it!
Actually, I have noticed sometimes that if I am in the middle of a playlist of audio in WMP and then open an .avi from windows explorer and then close WMP and come back, sometimes it will reload my playlist where I left it. So, maybe the real solution is for MS to beef up that feature so that a playlist can be continued where it left off after being interrupted by playing a separate file click on from windows explorer...

joel wrote:

The OP didn't want to watch two videos at one time. He wanted to have one instance stopped in the background (perhaps so a movie or playlist wasn't disturbed) yet be able to switch to another piece of media on an adhoc basis. I think that was perfectly understandable (and desirable).
You have the right idea. I do multimedia development work, so it is common for me to have music playing in the background as general ambience. However in the course of the day I may need to play an .avi video file I just rendered from Adobe After Effects (which may not even have audio to it) or something like that. The background music would just continue or I could mute it. Maybe that isn't a common usage scenario, but that is how I would like to do it!
Actually, I have noticed sometimes that if I am in the middle of a playlist of audio in WMP and then open an .avi from windows explorer and then close WMP and come back, sometimes it will reload my playlist where I left it. So, maybe the real solution is for MS to beef up that feature so that a playlist can be continued where it left off after being interrupted by playing a separate file click on from windows explorer...

I'll file a bug request along these lines, quoting your scenario if you don't mind.

Nope, not possible - but I'm working on a workaround :o)
-- Zack Whittaker » ZackNET Enterprises: www.zacknet.co.uk » MSBlog on ResDev: www.msblog.org » Vista Knowledge Base: www.vistabase.co.uk » This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared that up!
--: Original message follows :-- "joel" wrote in message

I can't open multiple instances in build 5308.
It minimizes to a small set of taskbar controls like in XP.
Thanks for the info.
you could always open the video using mplayer2.exe
Good point. I remember hearing that suggestion even for XP, but I think I gave up on it because the interface is so incredibly old.
Right now in XP, I can listen to audio from an embedded WMP in IE and have the full version of WMP open at the same time. Maybe that is possible because one is the ActiveX control and the other is the regular .exe application. I don't know much about the sidebar yet, but maybe it is possible to use the WMP ActiveX control in the sidebar, leaving the full application still available. Or perhaps I could use a 3rd party player in addition to WMP, but I like using WMP. Oh well...

Some programs cannot be run in 2 instances.. like outlook express, media player, msn messenger (although there are polugamy patches for messenger).
there must be a way. but it might involve hacking the registry or files.....
-- "What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are." - Epictetus 55-135
"Mike Williams" wrote in message

joel wrote: The OP didn't want to watch two videos at one time. He wanted to have one instance stopped in the background (perhaps so a movie or playlist wasn't disturbed) yet be able to switch to another piece of media on an adhoc basis. I think that was perfectly understandable (and desirable).
You have the right idea. I do multimedia development work, so it is common for me to have music playing in the background as general ambience. However in the course of the day I may need to play an .avi video file I just rendered from Adobe After Effects (which may not even have audio to it) or something like that. The background music would just continue or I could mute it. Maybe that isn't a common usage scenario, but that is how I would like to do it!
Actually, I have noticed sometimes that if I am in the middle of a playlist of audio in WMP and then open an .avi from windows explorer and then close WMP and come back, sometimes it will reload my playlist where I left it. So, maybe the real solution is for MS to beef up that feature so that a playlist can be continued where it left off after being interrupted by playing a separate file click on from windows explorer...
I'll file a bug request along these lines, quoting your scenario if you don't mind.

John Jay Smith wrote:

Some programs cannot be run in 2 instances.. like outlook express, media player, msn messenger (although there are polugamy patches for messenger).
there must be a way. but it might involve hacking the registry or files.....

I believe you can use scripted controls in multiple browser instances (which doesn't help the casual user), but otherwise WMP was changed after v8 or 9 to prevent multiple instances.

I'll file a bug request along these lines, quoting your scenario if you don't mind.

That would be great, thanks!

Nope, not possible - but I'm working on a workaround :o)
-- Zack Whittaker

That sounds good too!
For the average user I can see benefits to limiting WMP to one instance (to simplify use of the software), but for multimedia development there are times when being able to run multiple instances of the player would be helpful to enhance productivity. Maybe there could be an option to enable multiple instances.
I'm really looking forward to Vista and hopefully also the transition to native 64-bit support for content creation software from companies like Adobe. Best Regards. :)