How to view .mov files in preview?

[hulland]

Sorry for delay I just re-installed it--there is NO mov shown under F6 Previewed Formats--so what would you recommend I do next?

[nas8e9]

Sorry for delay I just re-installed it--there is NO mov shown under F6 Previewed Formats--so what would you recommend I do next?

To be clear, you continue to see the .mov extension in the registry as discussed earlier but you don't see it in XYplorer's configuration window (I presume you mean F9 rather than F6)?

Edited to add: Assuming you've uninstalled all software capable of .mov playback, I'd add the K-Lite Basic Codec Pack and test again.

[hulland]

Sorry yes, F 9 ( must have been standing on my head !) so-I uninstalled GOM player, I installed K Lite ( but not the latest 6.6 update). I also left the "associate with Windows Media Player" UN ticked as I don't have wm installed. When I hit F 9 there is no entry at all in associations for mov files.
What is the next step? --I am going slowly and carefully because I really want this to work if possible.

[nas8e9]

Sorry yes, F 9 ( must have been standing on my head !) so-I uninstalled GOM player, I installed K Lite ( but not the latest 6.6 update). I also left the "associate with Windows Media Player" UN ticked as I don't have wm installed. When I hit F 9 there is no entry at all in associations for mov files.
What is the next step? --I am going slowly and carefully because I really want this to work if possible.

Going out on a limb here: given that you know and use HD imaging, do you also have access to a VM setup and a Windows 7 install DVD? The reason I'm asking is threefold:
1. somewhere along the line, your current Windows 7 install has seen too many installs of multimedia apps; something seems borked in the corner of the multimedia playback system XYplorer uses;
2. my own testing with a clean Windows 7 install to which only K-Lite Basic Codec Pack is added, is that that combination allows XYplorer to preview .mov files. Unfortunately, given the first point it seems impossible to return to that initial state;
3. you mentioned earlier possibly modifying your base install; with a VM you could (without potentially wasting a huge amount of time and effort) try whether this would indeed work for your setup.

Again, I'm sorry there isn't a more "surgical" way to get your current install to work, but at this point (short of comparing registry dumps, which isn't practical) I don't think there's a reasonable way to get your current Windows install to play ball. I hope the developer and/or other users will have better ideas, but for now I'm out of them.

[admin]

I hate to admit it, but 3 other free file managers all happily show mov files along with jpeg and mpeg too whilst quickly browsing a folder.

Which one of them should I download to try. I want to see it.

[hulland]

Admin, the nearest to XYP and also the very fastest to display is the Lite and free version of Xplorer2;-

Download from http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

to open their quickview hit Ctrl + Q

[hulland]

Reply to nas8e9;-

I have read and digested your recommendations, happy to even re-install Win 7 Ultimate if I was 100% sure it would work. In the meantime I also had a thought--I ALWAYS install Irfanview as a first thing, because for me at least, if I associate jpegs and MP3's with it, it always opens all e mail attachments far quicker than anything else. Could this be stealing any mov associations? ( Although Irfan won't play mov's anyway.)

[admin]

Admin, the nearest to XYP and also the very fastest to display is the Lite and free version of Xplorer2;-

Download from http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

to open their quickview hit Ctrl + Q

This looks as if WMP is embedded in the app (ActiveX technology), right?

Just checked again on my system: "Haali Media Splitter" seems to be the thing that enables me playing MOV (http://haali.su/mkv/). Must have been installed with some CODEC pack... EDIT: K-lite mega codec pack

[nas8e9]

Reply to nas8e9;-

I have read and digested your recommendations, happy to even re-install Win 7 Ultimate if I was 100% sure it would work. In the meantime I also had a thought--I ALWAYS install Irfanview as a first thing, because for me at least, if I associate jpegs and MP3's with it, it always opens all e mail attachments far quicker than anything else. Could this be stealing any mov associations? ( Although Irfan won't play mov's anyway.)

Two points:
1. In my testing, Windows 7 + *only* K-Lite worked; taking either an image in case of a physical install, or a snapshot in case of a VM install, after installing both would allow you to go back if adding other multimedia software like IrfanView causes problems.
2. I get your need for certainty before committing a huge amount of time and effort to a physical install. A VM test install would enable you to test this for your software config while still having your computer available for actual work , hence my question about your VM capability.

Based on your description and my past use, I don't think IrfanView adds .mov playback but would be a factor in file associations. The above procedure, heavy-handed as it is, would allow you to add one piece of multimedia software at a time, after which you can retest whether XYplorer's preview still works. If not, you could easily revert to the last image or snapshot.

[hulland]

I believe it IS WMP embedded as I once asked why the app would NOT play stuff, and it was in the days of Microsoft being told they could not force people to use WMP in Europe, and I had to install the wm codecs. So yes to your question, ( is that a difficult scenario to follow?)

Re;- VM--I have never used it and I only have 1.2 Gigs of RAM. Isn't the available RAM a factor with VM?

[nas8e9]

I believe it IS WMP embedded as I once asked why the app would NOT play stuff, and it was in the days of Microsoft being told they could not force people to use WMP in Europe, and I had to install the wm codecs. So yes to your question, ( is that a difficult scenario to follow?)

Re;- VM--I have never used it and I only have 1.2 Gigs of RAM. Isn't the available RAM a factor with VM?

I'm afraid so: 32-bit Windows 7 would require a *spare* 1 GB, 64-bit 2 GB. That's out, I'm afraid.

[admin]

I believe it IS WMP embedded as I once asked why the app would NOT play stuff, and it was in the days of Microsoft being told they could not force people to use WMP in Europe, and I had to install the wm codecs. So yes to your question, ( is that a difficult scenario to follow?)

With XY I'm trying to avoid such dependencies. For example on my system I have WMP completely disabled and still can preview all sorts of media types through XY right through the low level API.

There must be something special
(1) about MOV (well, it's Apple...) AND
(2) about your system AND
(3) about XY
that causes the behavior you see. I currently cannot see me employing the ActiveX technology, so that leaves it to you working out point (2) (your system). (Unless you focus on (1) and convince Apple to change the format... )

[hulland]

OK fair comment--thanks for taking the trouble to give me the advice.

[nas8e9]

I believe it IS WMP embedded as I once asked why the app would NOT play stuff, and it was in the days of Microsoft being told they could not force people to use WMP in Europe, and I had to install the wm codecs. So yes to your question, ( is that a difficult scenario to follow?)

With XY I'm trying to avoid such dependencies. For example on my system I have WMP completely disabled and still can preview all sorts of media types through XY right through the low level API.

There must be something special
(1) about MOV (well, it's Apple...) AND
(2) about your system AND
(3) about XY
that causes the behavior you see. I currently cannot see me employing the ActiveX technology, so that leaves it to you working out point (2) (your system). (Unless you focus on (1) and convince Apple to change the format... )

With my lousy MSDN skills, I wonder whether Windows needs WMP enabled to have its embedding functionality intact. IE (admittedly deeper embedded in Windows) can, at least in Windows 7, be disabled while the engine is still there for other software to use. I can imagine MS taking a similar route with WMP?

[hulland]

Many thanks for your time & trouble. I have saved these correspondences and when I reformat ( usually every few months) I will go through that routine to see if I can make it work in my box. I hope that everyone can appreciate the usefulness of being able to do a quick review within a file manager of both still and video image previews? It is extremely useful and time-saving for me hence my request in the first place. Thanks to everyone again.