Help on Listening to .Wav files

Technical Issues:

When I try to download a .WAV file, I get an error message saying that the the server is refusing to fulfill the requested operation, file is not found, and to check the file path.

Making Windows Media Player your default browser (recommended)

"Run from current Location" or "Save to local hard drive?"

I hit the sound link and nothing happens!?

Why does the sound skip?

The entire sound does not download.

How long will it take to download the sound files?

How do I save the sound files on my computer so I can listen to them later?

The Below notes are for PC users. You shouldn't have any problems listening to .wav files on a Mac, but if you do run into problems, let me know and and I'll post them below for the other Mac users.

To Make Your Computer Play the .wav Sounds with Windows Media Player (Recommended):

When you click on the sound file links in your browser, it will automatically download a short .wav file that will automatically launch your default media player. Often the default media player is Real Player or Real Juke Box. It is usually simpler for you to use Windows Media Player to listen to the .wav files. To make Windows Media Player your default .wav file player, follow the below instructions: (this if for Windows Media Player version 6.4.07. - Procedures for different versions may vary.)

1. Open Windows Media Player on your computer by going to Start- Programs- Accessories menu.

2. If it is not there, then go to Start, Run, and type " mplayer2.exe" and it should pop up.

3. In Windows Media Player go to View, options, Formats tab, and select Windows Media File and Windows Audio File. Selecting these boxes should make the Windows Media player your default player for .wav sounds.

4) After listening to a sound, do not close Windows Media Player because you will need it again to listen to the other sounds. If you do close it, it will take more time for your computer to re-open the Windows Media Player the next time you want to listen to another sound. Instead of closing it, click on the web page, and the Windows Media Player will move to the back of the web page. You can also minimize your media player.

Common Questions:

When I try to download a .WAV file, I get an error message saying that the the server is refusing to fulfill the requested operation, file is not found, and to check the file path. At times there have been problems downloading .wav files from the server. It seems to have been a problem with Geocities' server and appears to no longer be a problem. Please let me know if you get this error message more than a few times and provide me with the details such as the error message you received, which .wav files you were having problems with (my e-mail address is below). The server not responding seems to affect the .wav files at random and is usually resolved by clicking on the .wav file again to re-load it. I also tried using Netscape Navigator instead of Internet Explorer and that worked to fix the problem. Navigator has it's own sound player that pops up even though you have the Media Player set as the default player.

When I click on a .wav file link, my computer asks me if I want to "Run this program from it's current location" or" or "Save this program to disk." One of the reasons why I suggest using Windows Media player is because it does not ask you this every time. You can set your default media player to Windows Media Player (see above instructions), or you can choose either, "run from the current location," or "save to the local drive." If you select "Run this program from it's current location," this means that your computer will play the sound and will not save the file on your hard drive (recommended). If you select "Save this program to disk," it will prompt you to select where you want to save the file on your hard drive, then it will play the file. Only do this if you want to keep a copy of the file for future use.

I hit the sound link and nothing happens!?: The best thing to do is hit the stop button on the Windows Media Player and then hit the link again. That usually works. You can monitor the progress of the download at the bottom of the Windows Media Player. It will say "Opening.... 20% of 27k" for example as long as you don't have the View of the media player set to "minimal" which would hide this feature from view. If it only says "Opening... with no numbers after for several seconds, you can assume that the download was not initiated and you need to take the above action. If you don't see the Windows Media Player and you know that it is already open, maximize it by hitting its icon in the toolbar.

If the sound skips: Widows Media Player will sometimes try to start playing the sound before it has completely downloaded. If the it starts playing and the download is a little too slow, the sound may skip. Just hit the play button again after it is done downloading. It will re-play the sound without the skipping the next time because the sound will now be in your computer's memory.

The entire sound does not download- Simple. Just click on the sound link and download it again.

How long will it take to download the sounds?- I have tried to keep the sound files small (10-50kb) so they shouldn't take more than 10 seconds to download on a 28.8 modem. There are a few longer sounds which I have labeled as (+10 secs.). If they are taking longer, it is probably due to net congestion or a slow connection. (depends on your phone lines).

How do I save the sound files on my computer so I can listen to them later? - See "save this program to disk" if this dialogue box prompts you, otherwise, after each sound downloads, select File, Save As and the name of the file should appear in the File Name box. All you have to do is select the location where you want to save the file to on your hard drive and hit "save." When you download a new sound file, the previous one will be deleted from RAM (memory) so if you did not save it to your hard drive, you may have to download the sound again. Your computer may save the sound file in the temporary internet files folder which will make it open quickly the next time you want to access it. It depends on how you have your browser configured.

If you're having problems hearing the files, find any broken links, or have any suggestions let me know. E-mail me at cstarace@yahoo.com .

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