This is a repost from an inquiry in the Software section, in case I have better luck here.
About one month ago, I upgraded my parents' Dell E521 WinXP SP2 machine from Windows Media Player 9 to WMP 11. I also installed the AC3 codec at that time. All seemed to work well for a time. For the last couple of weeks, my father started noticing that some videos (he is getting them through e-mail) have no sound. I checked this and found the following:
Only some .wmv videos with a wma audio track play without sound. But the thing is that they behave like this only when working in the Limited User account. When I copy such a video to the Administrator account, it plays with sound. The video also tends to freeze WMP in the Limited account, but not in the Admin account. For their own protection, my parents are always using the Limited account.
So I uninstalled WMP 11 and reverted back to WMP 9. Now, what is happening is that the video is still playing OK in the Admin account, but when played in the User account, it plays about twice too fast, but with sound. This is only with some, but not all, wmv videos with a wma audio track. I have made sure about all file associations. The problem videos play correctly with sound on my own computer.
The only thing that differs in the User account is that Skype was installed in it (in Documents and Settings) by my brother-in-law over the Holidays.
How to explain that WMP works OK in the Admin account and not in the Limited account? Could Skype have something to do with this? If so, why didn't the problem appear right after Skype was installed?
I have searched the web and Skype forums for a possible link between this problem and Skype and found nothing.
At this point, I am reluctant to uninstall Skype. I am also reluctant to try WMP 10, as I doubt this will solve anything and am not sure it can be uninstalled. I also consider System Restore to be a next-to-last resort, as I might have to go more than 3 months back. I would prefer to undestand what the real problem is and fix it
So if anyone has suggestions I could try before I start messing with Skype and WMP, please tell me.
About one month ago, I upgraded my parents' Dell E521 WinXP SP2 machine from Windows Media Player 9 to WMP 11. I also installed the AC3 codec at that time. All seemed to work well for a time. For the last couple of weeks, my father started noticing that some videos (he is getting them through e-mail) have no sound. I checked this and found the following:
Only some .wmv videos with a wma audio track play without sound. But the thing is that they behave like this only when working in the Limited User account. When I copy such a video to the Administrator account, it plays with sound. The video also tends to freeze WMP in the Limited account, but not in the Admin account. For their own protection, my parents are always using the Limited account.
So I uninstalled WMP 11 and reverted back to WMP 9. Now, what is happening is that the video is still playing OK in the Admin account, but when played in the User account, it plays about twice too fast, but with sound. This is only with some, but not all, wmv videos with a wma audio track. I have made sure about all file associations. The problem videos play correctly with sound on my own computer.
The only thing that differs in the User account is that Skype was installed in it (in Documents and Settings) by my brother-in-law over the Holidays.
How to explain that WMP works OK in the Admin account and not in the Limited account? Could Skype have something to do with this? If so, why didn't the problem appear right after Skype was installed?
I have searched the web and Skype forums for a possible link between this problem and Skype and found nothing.
At this point, I am reluctant to uninstall Skype. I am also reluctant to try WMP 10, as I doubt this will solve anything and am not sure it can be uninstalled. I also consider System Restore to be a next-to-last resort, as I might have to go more than 3 months back. I would prefer to undestand what the real problem is and fix it
So if anyone has suggestions I could try before I start messing with Skype and WMP, please tell me.
