Computer won`t play flac music files

[aquariuscsm]

My computer just started doing this. I have a ton of music files on my computer. Mostly flac. When I click on them to play them,a message in a box with a red x pops up that says,"Error. This archive is either in unknown format or is damaged". Windows Media Player is what has always played it. It wont give me the option to select a different player when I right click on a song/file. BUT,I also have alot of single mp3 files that will allow me to right click,then select from a list of players (I prefer the VLC Media Player).

What`s going on with my flac music files? Is there a way to make the VLC the default player so I can listen to them?

 

[ClutchDisc]

Right click on the file and say play with VLC Media Player. See if that works.

 

[uc50ic4more]

The more difficult way to do that is to first open VLC, then open the file(s) from there. This is a little unwieldy.

I haven't touched a Windows computer in a long, long time; but I thought I recalled somewhere in the right click "Open With..." menu that allowed you to at the least select an application from a dialogue window, and at best click a check box somewhere in that process to designate that application as the default for the file type.

It is odd that Windows Media Player played these files and then stopped; and even more odd that the error refers to an "archive", which a FLAC file ain't. I wonder if mistakenly an un-archiving application somehow became the default for that file type and, of course, cannot decipher it.

Obviously you had to install the FLAC codec (perhaps it was a part of a collection of codecs?) - I wonder if those codecs were mistakenly uninstalled or even quarantined? The last time I used Windows I used a codec pack called CCCP which installed everything I'd ever need.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is there a way to make the VLC the default player so I can listen to them?

Open VLC Media Player. Go to Tools --> Preferences --> Interface, and choose a button towards the bottom that says "Set up associations..." In there, put a tick mark next to ".flac" extension and hit apply. You may need to restart Windows before these settings take effect - not sure.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is there a way to make the VLC the default player so I can listen to them?

Open VLC Media Player. Go to Tools --> Preferences --> Interface, and choose a button towards the bottom that says "Set up associations..." In there, put a tick mark next to ".flac" extension and hit apply. You may need to restart Windows before these settings take effect - not sure.




When I open my VLC,it doesn`t give me a Tools option. Do I need to update my VLC player?

 

[aquariuscsm]

Windows Media Player is giving me that same error message when I try to play mp3`s with it,BUT my VLC will play them. Is there a problem with my Windows player maybe?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
When I open my VLC,it doesn`t give me a Tools option. Do I need to update my VLC player?

You probably have the Minimal Interface selected in VLC that hides all the extras.

When you open VLC, do you just see a blank screen? Right click anywhere in this blank/black screen and choose Tools... Preferences.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
When I open my VLC,it doesn`t give me a Tools option. Do I need to update my VLC player?

You probably have the Minimal Interface selected in VLC that hides all the extras.

When you open VLC, do you just see a blank screen? Right click anywhere in this blank/black screen and choose Tools... Preferences.


I found the VLC preferences tab. When I click Interfaces,it opens a drop down box that says Control Interfaces-General-Hotkey Settings

 

[Quattro Pete]

Which version of VLC are you using? Maybe try updating to the current one (2.1.3), and during the process of installation, it'll actually ask you which file extensions should be associated with VLC.


By the way, the Preferences screen looks like this:

 

[Quattro Pete]

Another option would be to install Foobar2000 - it's my favorite go to audio player and supports many different audio formats. You can set it up so that it gives you access to your entire audio library, just like WMP.

 

[dparm]

Alternative way to change the association is to right-click the FLAC file, select "Open With", and then find VLC and check the box for "always open these files with VLC".

 

[aquariuscsm]

Yep,I think I have the original ancient VLC player :^P I`ll have to get that Foobar2000. Thanks Quattro!

 

[bigt61]

I have used WinAmp for many years. I'm not a fan of Windows Media Player.