How do I...?

Increase the buffer time on my Windows Media Player

If you are experiencing frequent re-buffering when playing a video file using the Windows Media player, it is due to heavy network traffic.  A possible solution is to increase the buffer time in your media player.  This means it will take longer to start a video, but once started, the player will have a larger reserve of downloaded video to play while in is receiving more in the background, thus compensating for slow network performance.  The following is a link to a Flash movie that illustrates how to set the buffer time:

Buffer Time Flash Movie

Basically, the steps are:

1. Start the media player.

2. Click the Tools menu.

3. Click the Options... choice.

4. Click the performance tab.

5. Click the Buffer radio button.

6. Change the value in the buffer text box to a higher value, between 1-60.

7. Click OK.  Then restart the movie.

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