Ok ok ok so i stream media from my upstairs computer to my downstairs computer. Now i want my upstaris computer that is playing music off downstairs computer to buffer about 10 seconds of song before playing it always starts off then about 5 seconds later has to stop to buffer its annoying any iddeas?

Learning in progress..........

hmmm......must be the software you're using. I use winamp to play music on my PC and have all our CD's copied (in .mp3 format) onto my PC so I don't have to mess around changing CD's all the time.

On occasion my wife will use her winamp to play music off of my PC and there's never any pausing. Try winamp and see if that doesn't work better for you.

No no no im using windows media player on my upstairs computer however all my music is on another computer in same house on same network just seperate computer. however the computer playing music retrieves the music from the seperate computer and i just notice within first ten seconds it pauses to buffer then it dont do it anymore , just annyoing sometimes. I know i could just put the music files on my computer but the would defeat the purpose of why i do what i do

Learning in progress..........

And I here I thought I was being clear....

I did not say move the music files to the other computer.

I said, it could be the software you're using (gee, imagine a microsoft product not working properly!?!?!?) and you could check this out by trying other software.

I recommended winamp which I use myself.

Clear?

Yes yes very clear but i was asking if there is a way through "media player" To stream music in a better way. If the end result is using different software ......... then i guess thats my option........ Can you compile a library of music via over the network through win amp? how does it handle buffering and things like that? How does winamp compareto media player? How does it treat files (remote files) different ? does it buffer better does it stream better? sorry if i didnt take your advice well sound like i took your advice. No way was i contradicting what you suggested all input is accepted and if my only option is use new software ....well then that is what i have to do ......... what about storing files on my linux box...... any suggestions there?

Learning in progress..........

Ok, I'm not a software engineer but you could ask about buffering on the winamp site.

I have a folder with about 3000 mp3's in it and I make one big playlist out of all the music files. I then set it to "random" and let her rip. When I reach the end, I restart it.

My wife will frequently go into the folder on my PC (via the network) and compile a playlist of either one CD or many separate music files and will then play that playlist.

I prefer winamp to windows media player and play all music on winamp. I've never been a big fan of M$ software and avoid using it whenever possible (I'm switching to Linux as my main desktop instead of using Vista which I have no intention of ever buying and keeping XP as my gaming platform) since their software tends to be bloated and doesn't perform as well as 3'd party software usually does.

I'm only suggesting you try it to test and see if it does play music better than winamp. If it does, then that points at a software issue with media player. If it doesn't (the same thing happens on winamp as media player) then you have another issue which could be related to the network, or the operating system.

As to linux, if you can set it up so your windows box can connect to a shared directory on a linux PC then I see no problem using linux to store the files.

Myself, I've had nothing but trouble at home connecting to my linux or UNIX box from windows. But then, I'm just learning my around linux/UNIX and am by no means as fluent in either as I am in windows.

Right i ran into the same trouble with linux / windows however my linux bow can connect shared to folders hosted in windows env not vice versa.

Right well i have a windows 2003 box setup at home also you think maybe i could add a file server additionally to this box and it might allow computers to pick up better i mean come on the whole point is you can dedicate it to file sharing maybe it could perform this function better

Learning in progress..........

I've been using an application on my windows PC's called WinSCP to transfer files from Windows to Linux/UNIX. It works quite well and will do until I have time to sit down and get it setup so I can map directly from Windows to a shared directory on Linux/UNIX.

Chances are you could use your existing 2003 box as a file server right now. It's as simple as putting whatever files you want on it into shared folders and setting perm's to allow access. I see no need to add yet another server just for that unless you really have a need to.

I don't know that this would improve anything though. If it's a network issue (not likely), it won't. If it's a problem with windows media player on the PC in question, using it (media player) to connect to files on another box won't change anything.

My point being, first you want to isolate what is the problem (media player, the network, the OS) before you go changing anything around.

Right right i understand but cant you just add file sharing ability to existing win2003 box ? i dont want to setup another box? or do i? :)

Learning in progress..........

Right right i understand but cant you just add file sharing ability to existing win2003 box ?

Certainly you can. In fact, it's already part of the system. All you should need to do is choose a folder to share (or create one), share it, and finally, add user accounts to the ACL for the share and adjust permissions as need be for the accounts.

So what im saying and you might had answered it already, i can specfically setup file server on my 2003 setup my server box so will this handle file sharing different then just sharing a folder ?

Learning in progress..........

That's how you file share.....you create a shared folder and add users/groups to the ACL and assign permissions to the accounts added. It's the same on Windows 2000 Pro/Server editions as well as on XP and 2003.

The real difference is that a server is never used as a desktop that someone works off of. It's dedicated to it's purpose. Hardware can differ a lot to.

Also, the operating system more than anything else defines the difference between a desktop operating system and a server.

If you look through your server, you'll notice it has a lot of services available on it that you won't find on a desktop. DHCP, DNS etc etc etc.

Yeah yeah i get that but setting up a file server on win2003 will it handle sharing different compared to sharing on an xp machine Yes i understand about DNS DHCP Active directory hence server :)

Learning in progress..........