WAV files on this CD-ROM

It was a tough decision, but we decided that most users of this CD-ROM have MPLAYER, the default Windows sound player, available in their Windows Directory. We could have used whatever .WAV playback software you have registered in WIN.INI or the registry. If we did that:

• We couldn't know the syntax for telling your software to begin playing automatically and to close when it is done. OK for sophisticated users, confusing for beginners.
• Because of some technical requirements of HTML browsing software, the entire multi-megabyte .WAV sound file would be copied to your hard disk before it was played back--a painfully slow process on most CD-ROM drives.

So, if you are one of those people who disliked MPLAYER so much that you erased it from your hard disk, when you click on a .WAV file on this CD-ROM, it won't play back. There are two workarounds:

• Find the .WAV file on the CD using File Manager or Explorer, and play it back directly. The .WAV file always has the same name as the .WM file that launches it and is in the same directory; for example, FRED.WM in the \LIBRARY directory launches \LIBRARY\FRED.WAV.
• You can copy your .WAV software to a file named MPLAYER.EXE in any directory in the path statement.

We had a tough technical choice. We went with the decision that would provide the best service to the largest percentage of our readers. We apologize if this reduces the quality of your experience with the WINDOWS CD-ROM Magazine.