Before I get to the specifics of todays problem, let me explain my overall goal.

While using Opera as my browser, I want to be able to click on any and all media and have it play. And if it won't play while on the Website itself, I want a player that is loaded on my hard drive to launch and play it.
If I can't do that I want to be able to download it and save it to my hard drive. Once it has been downloaded to my hard drive I want to be able to double click on it from windows explorer and have the appropriate player launch, queue and play the dam thing when I want.
This is not asking too much is it?

Today's problem is in not being able to play media from my browser.
No error message mind you. These three example that I'm about to give don't happen at the same web site but are examples of different sites.
Sometimes after clicking to play something, it just sits there.
Sometimes I may get something that shows that it is loading and after it is loaded it just sits there.
And sometimes I will get a grey square roughly 2"x2" that says click. Again nothing happens.
Mind you , no error messages, and the machine isn't hanging up. These are also sites where I'm not given any option as to a viewer type or anything. Antivirus is up to date.
What kind of information do you need for this specific question, and my overall quest?
Thanks in Advance.

Have you installed the media plugins?

Now that you mention it, yes and no.
With this latest string of media not playing, No I haven't. As I haven't received any error messages that would indicate that one might be needed.
I did a while back receive an error message in Opera that a plug-in may be required. I went and retrieved it and installed it, I think. I say I think because I had a problem. Posing the question to TTZ went unanswered, problem didn't continue. Or if it did I couldn't trace it back there.
Not to long ago though, I did receive a different error message (than the one mentioned above) after attempting to play something off a site.
The message said something like"this file type may require a plug-in but the type is not specified" There was not other option given except to close the error message window. The file extention that showed in the error message text was a common one, such as .mpeg or mpg though. I don't remember the exact ones though.

I think I have answered my own question.
What do you think? Go get the plug-ins and attempt to explain my problem again.

As for my overall quest. What do you need? Anything?

http://www.opera.com/docs/plugins/

So what are you saying here?
Without a specific error message, are you suggesting that I download and install ALL of them, meaning what I already have may not be current or is fubared?

For what it's worth, my prior problem a couple of weeks ago, gave an error message for WMP. I read the Opera file. The plugins needed for that problem were already present and installed.

I guess I would just start with the WMP plugin and go from there. Keep in mind that I don't know shit about Opera though.

Windows Media Player Plug-in

Using the Windows Media Player plugin with Opera

Bull,
This is precisely why I'm hesitating.
Last night I did just happened to click on a button in a site to play something.
It ended up launching, right inside the web site that I was in, a small version of WMP. A very minimalist version, but WMP none the less.
Let me clarify my earlier statement. I have recently gone this route before, specifically with WMP.
At that time, I read the Opera site info about the topic, which I gather is much the same as the MS help site that you pointed me to above. Bear in mind, this prior problem was as the result of me getting a specific error message from Opera's program. It was pointing out that the problem may lie with the WMP plugin.
The files that Opera said should be on my HD, were all accounted for and right where they should be, without me doing anything.
In fact I have no problem using WMP as a stand alone player on my HD.
Whether this has anything to do with viewing something while on the Web, I'm not clear.

Let me go write something up on the side later today to maybe either clarify or muddle the problem before I post back.

Acehigh, or anyone else.
My bad about TTZ not answering my question before.
I either missed it or blew it off. As my problem didn't seem to reappear. see TTZ conversation http://thetechzone.com/forums/showthread.p...?threadid=46208

I'm trying to think of what you guys need here.
Question. If I go and get these plug ins and install them. Is it a no harm, no foul deal. Will they easily overwrite my existing files if that's the problem?
I can give you more concrete links to sites where my problem has occured since yesterday if you want.
I can also give you the lowdown on what other media programs I have. I might also add what media programs are recent such as Real Player and quicktime.
But I don't know what you need.
I hate to reload programs especially Opera as that's a nother can of worms.

I was hoping someone else who uses Opera would reply.

I still have that question about the plugins.
At any rate the problem with reloading or updating Opera is, at a minimum, saving my existing Bookmarks (which are considerable) and putting them back while deleting what preset one the new Opera will force me to take.
On top of that Opera piggy-backs (for lack of a better word) on top of Netscape somehow.

Here's an idea. To narrow it down, would it help if I start keeping track of the sites and or pages that are the problem. and posting a list?

reinstall opera. you've probably installed loads of versions on top of each other. that seriously fucks up both the directory-structure and registry, especially the beta-version floating about. ALWAYS uninstall any opera ver. you've got before installing a new one. also, most plugins come with the prog. flash, shockwave, java. only plugins i've had to install afterwards is real and quicktime. the windows media player plugin won't work with version 7 by the way. they're currently working on a new supported one so screw the one ace gave you

Ok, now we're getting somewhere.
Maybe.
First let me give you my vague understanding of plugins.
I was going to be a smart ass but thought better.
1. When I see names like Java, shock wave and the like, listed as plugins at the Opera website that AceHigh sent me to, like you mentioned, these come with my browser. I don't see them, they are non-existent seamless little programs or whatever. If these are necessary to view media content on the web, from my standpoint, I don't see them.
2. Programs like Realplayer, WMP, and Quicktime and even Winamp to me are stand alone players.
I download files and use whatever player is necessary to play them. I realize that some players were made for certain formats. That is the only reason that I have them. If I could have just one free player that played them all well, I'd be a happy camper. Right now my settings between all these players may not be optimal. But we'll come back to that.

Now comes the fuzzy part.
When I click on stuff in a site with the expectation of seeing something most of them in my case are flash. Game,s little flick etc. I do nothing except hit the play button that pops up. Seamless. I don't know what runs it, and don't care as long as it plays. I think sometimes the file extention of the Web address may change to .asp (or something) but i'm not sure.
This catagory I put on a need to know basis. What do I need to know here? Me, the user.

The next catagory may load and launch a mini WMP. Not mine. Am I safe in assuming that this is the Website providing this player?
Do I even need to have my own seperate WMP program on my hard drive for these to play?
I don't think so, correct?
I don't know if the same thing will happen, (loading a mini player from within a web page), with Real player or Quicktime. So we're talking about WMP here. Are you with me?
I'll come back to my problem with WMP in a minute.

On to Opera.
Well let's call it an opera pause.
I have opera 7.01. Is that the same as the Beta version that your referring to?
If it is I'd be surprised with myself. I'm never in that much of a hurry to install a beta. Be that as it may they have a new version I'm getting now so it may take an hour.
I'm taking a break.

nah, that's a final release. an old one, but final. it's v7 though, so don't expect windows media streams to run smooth on it. you might get it to work, but officially it's not supported yet. for the most part, everything you've got running in your little windows is plugins installed locally. think of it this way; why have a whole program uploaded to your website taking both precious space and bandwith, when you instead can let the visitor of the site take care of it by storing the program on his/her comp? makes perfectly sense.

anyway, if you want one prog that can play every format, and i mean every format, from .swf to .mp3, get media player classic. you still need the plugins for every format you want to playback, but it makes things helluva lot easier than opening up one separate program for each file you want to play

http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/

Lord Leveau,
Ok, let me see if I got this straight.
When I go and get the download for WMP for example, does it contain both the files to run as a stand alone media player off the net and on the net?
In other words, when I unpack and install WMP, I get a seperate folder, installed by default, to C:\Programs\WMP.blah, blah.
What I also get, if I'm not mistaken, from this install, is some little zip files and .dll's tossed into my browser's plugin folders for them to use while on the internet.
So in effect I'm getting a 2-1 deal here.Correct?

Keep that question in mind as I may have a similar one involving Java, as stand alone programs and as they are also included in the install of browsers.

Back onto Opera, sort of. My hard drive needs a cleaning before that happens. The joy
Now, I haven't touched the latest version that I snagged last night.

I haven't done like you thought when installing newer versions of Opera. I left the prior version intact in it's seperate folder. I then imported my bookmarks from the older version into the newer version. I simple left the older version as a complete back-up.
I'm just not comfortable doing it any other way. With the old version intact I can see all the settings or whatever.
So should I delete, all my older versions as you suggest, in order to install this new version of Opera, your entering my uncomfortable zone. Especially when it comes to importing my bookmarks and settings without the previous files being available.
But this brings up another question. As I'm upgrading Opera wouldn't it also be wise to upgrade Netscape, as they are somehow connected?

no. if you download windows media player it contains plugins too yes, but only for internet explorer. you need a separate one for opera since ms has never supported other browsers than their own.

and netscape and opera is not connected to eachother more than internet explorer is connected to my ballocks. don't know who's given you that idea

Opera