Brian wrote:

> I have an ISDN dialup Internet connection, with the associated limitations on
> usage. Every time I open Windows Media Player on my PC to play a CD while I
> work, it forces my ISDN modem to dialup, so it is evidently attempting to
> access the Net. This is going to result in my ISP charging me for extra time
> or dropping me altogether at some point. My modem is set to hang up after 12
> mintues, but it will never hang up if the Windows Media Player is open.
>
> I don't use any of the stuff written to for the herd mentality of today's
> computer crowd (Urge, music downloading, etc); I just use it locally to play
> WAV files & CD's. How can I prevent Windows Media Player from ever attempting
> Internet connection except when I tell it to update?


Even after turning off all the internet-contacting settings
scattered throughout Windows Media Player's settings you will
find that it still tries to call home!

Hopefully this will help. Open Notepad, copy and paste what is
between the dashed lines below, save the file as
"WMP_No_AutoUpdate.reg" including quote-marks, rightclick the
resulting file and /merge/ it with the registry.

---------------------------------------------------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ PlayerUpgrade]
"EnableAutoUpgrade"="no"
; There needs to be a blank line below this one.


---------------------------------------------------------------

But since you are *not_allowed* to stop Windows Media Player from
calling home in the program-settings ( i.e. accessing the
internet to supposedly check for updates ), do *use_another*
program to play your media-files. There are many free ones of
different complexity and capabilities.

example: 'VLC Media Player' @ <http://www.videolan.org/>


--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.

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