I am having trouble getting Windows Media Player to work. I downloaded a copy (version 6.01.05.0217) from the internet: (www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/en/default.asp) a few weeks ago and it was working fine. Now when I click on an .avi or .mpeg file an error message comes up “Cannot open ‘C:TEMPar.mpg’. Please verify that the path and filename are correct and try again. Suggestion: Check the web site or content source for information about playing this content.” This happens regardless of whether the files are from the net or from the hard drive of the computer. When I click on the favorites menu of Media Player and go to one of the websites listed such as www.hipclips.com/ and click on a clip there, it will play normally! Could this problem be related to the fact that I downloaded this player from the Web and it has a built in use by date that renders it inoperable after so many plays/days? I have noticed also that there is a newer version of Windows Media Player (version 6.4) available from the Website, but I am reluctant to download it, preferring to try and fix my existing version first and not really wanting multiple copies of what is virtually the same program taking up valuable space on the hard drive. I am running a Pentium PC with Windows NT and Netscape Communicator 4.6.

This is an interesting problem. Your copy of Windows Media Player is trying to open a file called ‘bar.mpg’ each time it is run. It is likely that this problem started when you opened the file called ‘bar.mpg’ and for some reason it now it wants to automatically open that file each time you run Windows Media Player. I have two solutions that I am certain will work. The first step is to uninstall Windows Media Player, from the ‘Control Panel’ > ‘Add/Remove Programs’, and then reinstall it. This should give it a fresh start and default all of the settings which means whatever is trying to open the ‘bar.mpg’ file each time you start Windows Media Player shouldn’t anymore. If this doesn’t work, I suggest that you uninstall Windows Media Player again, download and install the newest version. If the problem you are experiencing is caused by a bug in the software, then the newer version should remove the problem.