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I had a couple of songs sent to me by e-mail. They won't play as it says Windows needs to know what program created it. It was taken from a disc and downloaded then sent to me. I would appreciate any help you can give.
Detecting the File Type
It sounds as though Windows is not recognizing the file as a music file and therefore doesn't know what to do with the song. The first thing we need to do is figure out what file type the song is. Go ahead and save the song to your hard drive by right-clicking it and choosing Save As. Place it in a folder that you can easily remember such as My Documents or My Music. Now, navigate to the saved file using Windows Explorer (right-click Start and choose Explore) and then right-click the file you just saved. Choose Properties in the menu that appears. Under the General Tab, you'll see "Type of File" which will tell you what type of file it is such as Windows Media Audio file (.wma) or some other file type.
Once you know the file type, you can do a quick Internet search to find out which media players open that file type. For example, if it's a Windows Media Audio file (.wma), then Windows Media Player should be able to open it. If it's a more exotic file type requiring a specific program, you may need to download a different, compatible media player to your computer.
Associating the File with a Media Player
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Once you know the file type and the media player that is capable of opening it, you can then go back to the file, right-click it, and choose Properties once again. From there, under the General tab you'll choose Opens With > Change. Clicking the Change button allows you to browse for the correct media player program and set it as the program for opening that particular file. If you want the media player to always open files of the same type, there's an option available for making that program the default for that particular file type.
Playing the File in a Media Player
Once the file has been associated with the media player, you should be able to double-click the file and it should automatically play in its associated media player.
Copyright Protected Songs
However, since the song was copied from a CD, it is possible that the record company encrypted it as part of its copyright protection routine. If so, you may be out of luck, even if the file type is common.
Is your computer an Open Invitation for HACKERS? Download free version of Sparktrust Inspector to identify vulnerabilities and problems on your computer (and even your WEBSITES)!
Celeste Stewart | April 28th, 2010
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