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Windows 7: A problem for some streaming stations

R

radioskeptic

Last weekend I installed Windows 7, upgrading from Vista, and guess what?

I can no longer listen to radio station web streams that depend on Windows Media Player – or, for that matter, to any streamed content that uses the Player.

And it’s not the fault of my three-year-old computer.

I called Microsoft Support because I was unable to print, or even to re-install my printer driver. (It took over four hours of “shared control” over the internet for them to solve that problem.)

But when I asked about my inability to get radio stations that depend on Windows Media Player, I was shocked at the answer.

The tech explained that there are slightly different versions of Windows Media Player in each of the operating systems, and each version only works with the OS for which it was designed. The new version of the Player in Windows 7, he said, has some fancy new features not found in the XP and Vista versions; but Microsoft purposely omitted the ability to play streamed stand-alone audio (as opposed to audio accompanying video) from the web because they thought that capability would never be missed!

They already know that was a mistake, because mine was not the first complaint they’ve had, and they’re working on a fix, a free update, that will allow the new Player to play streamed audio. But in the meantime, those of us who have installed Windows 7 can no longer listen to stations that need to go through the Windows Media Player. (I can still listen to the NPR Player – which is not stored in my computer – as well as to stations that use Abacast and some other external player systems.)

Is there some other media player that can be used as a substitute for the Windows Media Player, and is compatible with Windows 7?

And shouldn’t stations be warning their web listeners about this problem with notices on their web sites (and possibly OTA announcements, too)?
 
I like to think of myself as a pretty stout "can do" computer guy, but receiving streaming audio is about to bring me to my knees. An amazing number of streams that I try to listen to bring me an error message which in one form or another says "You don't have the necessary Codec or Driver". Period. End of message.

Want to tell me what Codec I need with your stream. nope.
Want to tell me what protocol you are sending so I can go search for one. nope.

And when I put Dragon Naturally Speaking, the speech-to-text program on, the demons have really come boiling out of the cauldron!!! Anytime I use it, my Audiophile2496 sound card basically gets uninstalled. And the M-Audio drivers aren't too user friendly when you ask them to re-install.

It kind of goes against my religion but I may have to go Mac yet!

(I'm using XT Media Center Edition which further complicates life. It wants to be king-bee. Audiophile wants to be king-bee. Dragon wants to be king-bee. And then Total Recorder says... not so fast guys. I will take over everything anytime I am ready.)
 
Which version of Windows 7 are you running? That could be critical to your problem. From Microsoft:

Remote media streaming isn't available on Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic.

Since media streaming is a direct data path into your computer, and Microsoft has become much more sensitive to security issues, there's expanded control over who streams what in Windows 7. Here's a basic primer on Windows 7 Media Streaming that gives you a pretty good snapshot of the issues involved:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Getting-started-with-media-streaming

You might want to try Winamp instead of Windows Media Player. I know many people who prefer it:

http://www.winamp.com
 
Thanks. I got Winamp, and it works. (I had to uncheck a lot of those things they offered for free with it. I didn't want any of that rock stuff wasting space on my hard drive. I only wanted something that would let me listen to the web streams of classical stations -- the ones that don't use Abacast -- as well as programs like St. Paul Sunday, which is available on demand, but only as a stream, not a download.)
 
I still run XP and have no plans to upgrade to 7 until I replace my computer. If I were to purchase a new computer with Windows 7 pre-loaded, will this issue with streaming stations occur? What about the Sirius/XM player? :)
 
You should certainly be sure to avoid Windows 7 Home Basic. Windows 7 Starter isn't supposed to be sold in the US. There are issues with some programs when you upgrade from Windows XP to either Windows Vista or Windows 7.
 
There is no limitation on Windows 7 for streaming internet radio, the first guy posting is just a moron who shouldn't own a computer. In fact not only can W7 still stream internet radio it does AAC+ NATIVELY. That's right, no more Orban codec install needed...
 
On June 1, gunterm wrote:
There is no limitation on Windows 7 for streaming internet radio, the first guy posting is just a moron who shouldn't own a computer. In fact not only can W7 still stream internet radio it does AAC+ NATIVELY. That's right, no more Orban codec install needed...
Click to expand...

“There is no limitation on Windows 7 for streaming internet radio,” gunterm? Not one, but two Microsoft techs told me, point blank, that the new version of Windows Media Player in the Windows 7 OS will not play streamed audio from the web, just as I said in the original post – and as SirRoxalot confirmed in Reply #2:
Remote media streaming isn't available on Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic.
Click to expand...

I followed his advice and downloaded the free version of Winamp, and now I can once again listen to the live web streams of WCPE and WRTI, as well as the on-demand streaming of St. Paul Sunday – all of which I could get on the WMP in Vista Home Premium, but not on the new WMP in W7 Home Premium.

(Note: Those Microsoft techs didn’t tell me that the WMP in W7 Professional could play streamed audio, but they didn’t say it couldn’t, either. They did, however, say that W7 Professional and Ultimate can work with programs that are compatible with XP but not with Vista, while W7 Home Premium will not work with programs that are not compatible with Vista. So those users contemplating upgrading directly to W7 from XP, even from the low-end versions of XP, should go to W7 Professional in order not to lose the ability to use any programs they may have that are not compatible with Vista.)

And saying that “the first guy posting is just a moron who shouldn't own a computer” makes you look bad. Ad hominem attacks like that only appeal to the morons among your readers.

I wondered why you would react that way, so I looked up your profile. My first thought was that you might be a supporter of “HD” radio, taking a potshot at me because of my consistent criticism of that flawed technology, but I saw that that the “HD Radio” board wasn’t one of your regular visits. So I looked a little further. Considering that you’re in Kansas, and that your screen name is “gunterm”, I was tempted to make a wisecrack about the Thomas Frank book, but didn’t.

Then after a little reflection, I decided that the fact that you're only 28, and apparently a rather immature 28, explains it. That kind of unthinking bravado is just a manifestation of the hubris of youth.

I followed the link to www.oldies104.net, and it looked interesting, so it seems we may have some common ground. You may have inferred from my mention of classical material above that I’m some kind of music snob, but I’m not. I like Oldies.

I noted that KRBX has a CP but isn’t on the air yet, and that its authorized power of 7.9 kw at 935 ft. HAAT makes it about 2.5 dB short of a full-powered Class C2. I wish you luck with it.

Why don’t you my read posts on the thread “I dont get it with ogl” on the Philadelphia board? (And that thread title is sic; the easiest way to find it is by putting that misspelled title – in quotation marks – in the R-I site search box.) But in fact, if you look at any of my posts, on any topic, I think you’ll soon see that I’m anything but a moron.

So just calm down a little, son, and I'm sure you'll be fine when you grow up!
 
I must say that I'm not a big fan of Windows 7, and seriously considered downgrading back to XP. What is it with these software companies that they feel the need to fix something that ain't broke? I purposely stayed away from Vista for this reason, thinking that 7 would fix everything. Instead it created some new problems.
 
TheBigA said:
I must say that I'm not a big fan of Windows 7, and seriously considered downgrading back to XP. What is it with these software companies that they feel the need to fix something that ain't broke? I purposely stayed away from Vista for this reason, thinking that 7 would fix everything. Instead it created some new problems.
Click to expand...

It's simple. The hardware has outgrown the capabilities of Windows XP. Windows XP can't support more that two processor cores, which is a real problem when both Intel and AMD are offering quad-core processors and above. And, 32-bit can't support the gigabytes of RAM required for the new programs and multi-media that take advantage of the increased processor speed.

Yes, there are some problems upgrading to Windows Vista or Windows 7. You'll likely have to upgrade at least some of your software. It still beats Apple's approach, which is to force you to buy ALL new software when they come up with a major operating system upgrade.
 
SirRoxalot said:
It still beats Apple's approach, which is to force you to buy ALL new software when they come up with a major operating system upgrade.
Click to expand...

But they don't do it quite as often, no? I understand the processor point, though. I'm just slowly absorbing it all. And apparently 7 will allow for a compatability downgrade for some programs.
 
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