HOW TO USE WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER.

This page currently shows the current (as of May 2002) Version 7 of Windows Media Player in action. For instructions for the older Version 6 which may already be on your computer please click here.

If Windows Media Player is already installed on your computer (or after you have downloaded and installed it) all you have to do is click on the link to the video on our website. Windows Media Player will launch itself automatically and display the video. We have only shown a few of the controls here to help you get started - as you experiment with Windows Media Player you will find that you can pause or stop videos, add them to a "Favourites" list etc., etc.

Note: due to net congestion, the video may pause from time to time. Do not worry if it does this. It should pick up again and start playing from where it left off, after an interval, which can be more than a minute during the heaviest traffic.

If this is a persistent problem then you may wish to download the webcast and view it later while you are disconnected from the internet. However this is only recommended if you have plenty of hard disk storage space on your computer. Also, the download can take some time. To view a webcast which you have downloaded simply open the file once the download is finished and Windows Media Player will lauch and play it automatically. The method of use from there on is much the same as for the instructions for streaming below:

The first thing you will see is this. Don't do anything at this stage Be patient - it can take a minute or two before the video starts.

Once the video actually starts you can make some adjustments to the size of the display and the volume, colour balance etc. Details below ...

Click the Play button if need be, although this should already be automatically depressed. Adjust the volume by using the slider. To view a larger window or to view in full screen mode click on "View" and a number of options will be presented. If you do not hear anything, make sure that the mute button on Windows Media Player is not depressed. If you still don't hear any sound, check the master volume control for your pc. This is usually accessed by clicking the small icon which looks a bit like a speaker in the system tray (which is usually in the bottom right hand corner of your screen). When you open it the master volume control will look like the picture below. Make sure that the "Play" and "Wave/DirectSc" controls are not muted and that their slider controls are not at their bottom settings.