Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Do you know the specific file extensions you intend to play with WInamp?

Personally, I find the easiest way to get the media player I want for the media types I want is to:
1. Open Settings, Apps, Default Apps.
2. In the first search edit box, Enter a file type or link type, entering the file extension I wish to have played (and DON'T forget the dot in front of the extension - why MS required this I don't understand, but the search will not succeed without it) then hit Enter.
3. The app that's currently assigned to that file extension will now be shown as a button directly beneath the search box, and the announcement of this ends with "choose a default button."  Gain focus on it and activate it.
4. You will be presented with a dialog that lists the default app that's currently assigned in its own grouping at the top, a grouping that follows with all the alternative apps that are currently installed on your computer that can handle this file type, and with focus oddly on the Set as Default button at the outset. 
5. Hit SHIFT + Tab to throw focus to the app currently set as the default at the top of the list in the first grouping, then down arrow until you hit the app you want, Winamp in this case (which NVDA happens to announce as wine-amp).  Once you have focus on it, activate to select it, then hit TAB to gain focus on the Set as Default button and activate it.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for the media file types you wish to have Winamp (or whatever media player you might want) to handle by default.

There are so darned many media file types, many of which any one of us will never encounter, that setting a default app for the ones we do tends to be the quickest way to get the job done.

By the way, the Winamp installer itself does give you a checkbox to make it the default for handling audio CDs, and if you do want that it's best to leave that checked during installation.
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Tom,

All I can say is that I've given what I believe to be the simplest way to achieve "correct extension association" for Winamp for the file types you typically play.

Doing this, as you have found out, for every possible file type that might be playable is tedious, to say the least and, in my opinion, a huge waste of time since any one of us probably plays maybe 5 media file types, if that, with any regularity.

If you were to hit an odd media type that didn't start playing with Winamp at some point in the future, then go through the process again for that file extension at that time.  This is not a frequent need, at all.

It is a shortcoming of the Winamp installer (which does predate Windows 11, so I'll cut it slack) that it doesn't seek permission to become the default media player for all files it can play as part of its own install.  Most media players will at least ask this, whether you want to take the option or not.
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022

Mike and all:

I had a sighted I T friend take a look at how to make Wimanp my default player for audio files, and it is indeed a lot more complicated in Windows 11 than it was in Windows 10.

Basically, my friend had to go into the Winamp app settings, and literally make winamp the default player for each of the long list of file types that were listed there.

I’m thinking this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish with Jaws.

In fact, I think it was a bit tedious even for him, and he does I T stuff all day!

Obviously, if someone on the list  finds a different way to accomplish this in Windows 11, please let us know.

All I know is that it was a lot simpler in Windows 10.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Mike and all:

I had a sighted I T friend take a look at how to make Wimanp my default player for audio files, and it is indeed a lot more complicated in Windows 11 than it was in Windows 10.

Basically, my friend had to go into the Winamp app settings, and literally make winamp the default player for each of the long list of file types that were listed there.

I’m thinking this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish with Jaws.

In fact, I think it was a bit tedious even for him, and he does I T stuff all day!

Obviously, if someone on the list  finds a different way to accomplish this in Windows 11, please let us know.

All I know is that it was a lot simpler in Windows 10.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. I am not aware of any simpler way to make each filetype play as the default in Windows 11 for Winamp. That is why I offered to have you call me. Mike was able to perform this operation with the Tab key, once key repeat was set in JAWS.

Mike and all:

I had a sighted I T friend take a look at how to make Wimanp my default player for audio files, and it is indeed a lot more complicated in Windows 11 than it was in Windows 10.

Basically, my friend had to go into the Winamp app settings, and literally make winamp the default player for each of the long list of file types that were listed there.

I’m thinking this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish with Jaws.

In fact, I think it was a bit tedious even for him, and he does I T stuff all day!

Obviously, if someone on the list  finds a different way to accomplish this in Windows 11, please let us know.

All I know is that it was a lot simpler in Windows 10.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Hi,

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but, if you hit the return key on a file type you haven’t played before, you will be asked what you want to use to play it and whether you want that to be just once or always. You can choose Winamp at this point.

I find this a much quicker process than trying to do the same via settings.

Cheers

Richard Bartholomew

Mike and all:

I had a sighted I T friend take a look at how to make Wimanp my default player for audio files, and it is indeed a lot more complicated in Windows 11 than it was in Windows 10.

Basically, my friend had to go into the Winamp app settings, and literally make winamp the default player for each of the long list of file types that were listed there.

I’m thinking this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish with Jaws.

In fact, I think it was a bit tedious even for him, and he does I T stuff all day!

Obviously, if someone on the list  finds a different way to accomplish this in Windows 11, please let us know.

All I know is that it was a lot simpler in Windows 10.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

Tom,

All I can say is that I've given what I believe to be the simplest way to achieve "correct extension association" for Winamp for the file types you typically play.

Doing this, as you have found out, for every possible file type that might be playable is tedious, to say the least and, in my opinion, a huge waste of time since any one of us probably plays maybe 5 media file types, if that, with any regularity.

If you were to hit an odd media type that didn't start playing with Winamp at some point in the future, then go through the process again for that file extension at that time.  This is not a frequent need, at all.

It is a shortcoming of the Winamp installer (which does predate Windows 11, so I'll cut it slack) that it doesn't seek permission to become the default media player for all files it can play as part of its own install.  Most media players will at least ask this, whether you want to take the option or not.
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022

Isn’t key repeat just the normal/default behavioru? I always thought so.

Hi, Tom. I am not aware of any simpler way to make each filetype play as the default in Windows 11 for Winamp. That is why I offered to have you call me. Mike was able to perform this operation with the Tab key, once key repeat was set in JAWS.

Mike and all:

I had a sighted I T friend take a look at how to make Wimanp my default player for audio files, and it is indeed a lot more complicated in Windows 11 than it was in Windows 10.

Basically, my friend had to go into the Winamp app settings, and literally make winamp the default player for each of the long list of file types that were listed there.

I’m thinking this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish with Jaws.

In fact, I think it was a bit tedious even for him, and he does I T stuff all day!

Obviously, if someone on the list  finds a different way to accomplish this in Windows 11, please let us know.

All I know is that it was a lot simpler in Windows 10.

Tom Behler

Hi, Tom. That isn't the way I use to make Winamp my default music player at all in Windows 10. The way I do it is to go to Set Default Programs By App, select Winamp, and Tab to Manage. This way, I can choose to play files in Winamp that may not play if you only set the program as your default music player in the Music Player selection. I suspect this has changed in Windows 11, but since I don't have Windows 11, I can't tell you where to go except to say that you need to go to the list of Applications in Default Programs in Windows 11. If you can call me in the morning, I can help you, but at 1:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Hello, everyone.

I have just installed the newest version of Winamp on my new Windows 11 laptop, and am trying to make Winamp my default music and video player.

I have successfully done this on my main Windows 10 PC, but something must have changed in Windows 11, since I cannot get to the needed options to set the defaults.

Once in default apps, I used to be able to tab through mail, music, videos, browser, etc., and make the appropriate changes, but I can’t seem to get to that list of options now.

Here’s the set of instructions I used for Windows 10:

1.  Press windows I to go to the windows 10 settings.  You will land in an edit field.

2.  Type default and arrow down to default apps.  Once there, press enter.

3.  Then, Tab until you hear, music player. Jaws will tell you what the current default music player is. If it is something other than Winamp, press the spacebar and tab through your options until you hear, winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp. Tab again until you hear, video player. If it is something other than winamp, press space bar and tab through until you hear winamp. Press spacebar to select winamp.  Do this for any other apps you want to set as your default, like Google as your main internet browser.

4.   Then, alt f4 out of settings, and your default apps should be set.

Thanks for any help with this.

Tom Behler

JM,

Could be, but it's a terrible choice for a UI like this.  I would have, and did, type mp3, no dot, initially and was mystified why nothing showed up.  When I'm asked for a file extension to me that means the leading dot is implied.  

After all, we talk about TXT, DOCX, PDF, MP3, etc., etc., etc., files constantly without ever specifying a dot.  The dot is part of a file name to separate the extension (and, these days, not even strictly that unless it's "the last dot").
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022

Brian:

Maybe our best hope at this point is that a newer Winamp update will handle things better in Windows 11.

Tom Behler

Tom,

All I can say is that I've given what I believe to be the simplest way to achieve "correct extension association" for Winamp for the file types you typically play.

Doing this, as you have found out, for every possible file type that might be playable is tedious, to say the least and, in my opinion, a huge waste of time since any one of us probably plays maybe 5 media file types, if that, with any regularity.

If you were to hit an odd media type that didn't start playing with Winamp at some point in the future, then go through the process again for that file extension at that time.  This is not a frequent need, at all.

It is a shortcoming of the Winamp installer (which does predate Windows 11, so I'll cut it slack) that it doesn't seek permission to become the default media player for all files it can play as part of its own install.  Most media players will at least ask this, whether you want to take the option or not.
--

Brian - Virginia, USA - Windows 11 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 22H2, Build 22621; Office 2016, Version 16.0.15726.20188, 32-bit; Android 12 (MIUI 13)  

It’s not lack of contact with the world off campus that leads to the liberal views common in academia — it’s being trained to think critically and practicing this craft daily as we look at the world around us that makes us the libs conservatives so dislike.

     ~ Eliot A. Brenowitz, Seattle; New York Times, Letters, Tales of Town and Gown: Is the Campus Isolated?, August 20, 2022