Using the Windows Media Player plugin with Firefox

Actions
Show content customized for:

To play Windows media in Firefox, Firefox needs the Windows Media Player browser plugin installed. There are two different versions:

  • The original, which is usually included with Windows from 98 up to XP Home/Professional
  • The new version, which is specifically for Windows XP and Windows Vista and is only available by download.

Many Windows XP users will have the old plugin already, but it is recommended that you install the new plugin anyway.

This article describes how to check for and install the Windows Media Player plugin in Windows XP/Vista. XP users may already have the old plugin, but the new plugin is recommended.

Note: Even if you already have Windows Media Player installed, you may still be missing the plugin required to play back Windows Media audio and video embedded in Web Pages.

Table Of Contents

Checking if the plugin is installed

Firefox 3:

To see if you already have the plugin installed:

  1. At the top of the Firefox window, click the Tools menu and select Add-ons. The Add-ons window will open.
  2. In the Add-ons window, select the Plugins panel. This reveals a detailed list of all of Firefox's plugins.
  3. Scroll down the list, and look for the entry called:
    Microsoft® Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin
    np-mswmp.dll


  4. If the entry is present, then the plugin is installed.
  5. If the entry is missing, proceed to the Installing the new plugin section.
Firefox 2:

To see if you already have the plugin installed:

  1. Type about:plugins into the location bar and press Enter. This reveals a detailed list of all of Firefox's plugins.# Scroll down the list, and look for the entry called:
    Microsoft® Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin
    File name: np-mswmp.dll


  2. If the entry is present, then the plugin is installed.
  3. If the entry is missing, proceed to the Installing the new plugin section.

Installing the plugin

If the entry in about:plugins is not present, then the plugin is not installed. You must download it. The plugin can be obtained through the plugins section of the Firefox Add-ons web site, or directly from Port25 (the Microsoft Open-Source Labs web site).

  1. Go to the plugin download page on Port25.
    • (The Port25 page also contains more detailed installation instructions).
  2. Click "Download Now!" You will be prompted to save a file.
  3. Save the file to your desktop.
  4. Once it has downloaded, run it, and the plugin will install.
  5. When the installation has finished, close and restart Firefox:
    1. Click the File menu at the top of the Firefox window, and select Exit.
    2. When Firefox has completely closed, start Firefox up again.

Testing the plugin

The following link is to a test player that requires the new Windows Media Player plugin. If the player loads and plays, then the plugin is installed correctly: http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/testpages/wmp11.html




Based on information from Windows Media Player (mozillaZine KB)


Did this article solve a problem you had with Firefox?

Was this article easy to understand?



Page last modified on Thursday 29 of May, 2008 19:11:36 PST.
Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , AliceWyman , skulvis , admin and Vectorspace .
- This is a help article -