Listening to sound files

When you click the ear symbol in the Look and Listen Overview of Linguistics section a sound file is activated. How this is then played depends on the configuration of your computer. The sound files all have the extension .WAV (for wave, i.e. sound file) and the operating system of your computer, Microsoft Windows or the built-in system of Apple Macintosh, will load the programme which has been designated as default for playing files with this extension, i.e. for playing sound files. On PC's this will probably be the Windows Media Player, but if you have installed other software, such as WaveLab, then this overrides the Windows Media Player and so WaveLab will be loaded instead. Now this is not desirable when listening to sound files within another environment, as is the case with the English Linguistics in Essen website.
   To restore the Windows Media Player as default, you should load the Windows Explorer, then in the View menu under Folder Options, choose the tab File Type. Now locate wave files (near the end of the list) and then Remove. The next step is to find any wave file on your computer while still in the Windows Explorer (you can also search for such files here) and then double click on a wave file when you have found one. You are now asked to specify the programme with which to open the file. Choose Other and select the file WMPLAYER.EXE (or MPLAYER2.EXE if you have an older version) in the Windows Media Player folder under the Program Files folder on drive C:. Note that there is a new version of this programme presently available, but it will also be in this folder, if it has been installed on your computer. The sound file you choose is now played with the Windows Media Player. But what is most important is that Windows remembers that this is now the default programme for listening to sound files and will keep this setting until any future date when you might change it, or when other audio software you might install on your computer alters it. If the latter is the case, for instance if you install a new sound card, then you must repeat the procedure just described.