It used to, but then one day, months ago, it just stopped. Whenever I click on an mpg link I get a brief delay and then a blank white screen. I have no idea even how to do a basic troubleshooting of the problem, and I’d hate to take the thing to a computer store for something I might have fixed myself. Any suggestions?
Operating system?
Mac or Win?
What browser are you using?
Hey, me too! Except mine are on a disc, not internetland. They used to play, on this very computer (w/windows media player), but no mas.
Windows XP.
Since it’s Windows, make sure that the mpeg file is associated with the program that you want to use to read it. In Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options, File Types, etc. Try opening the mpeg from within that application. Could be the association got messed up, or the application itself got hosed. Try opening the mpeg with different applicatons (say, instead of Windows Media Player, use Quicktime). If none of them work, then it’s probable that your codecs got screwed.
Internet Explorer.
I can’t even find those on the Tools drop-down menu.
This might be irrelevant, but have you rebooted your computer since this problem started?
possibly you don’t have the correct codecs, or your codecs are corrupted.
Try downloading and installing the XP codec pack
Right-click on the Start button. Left-click on Explore. Up at the top where it says File, Edit, Favorites, Tools, click on Tools. It should have Folder Options as the fourth selection. Click on this, and then select the File Types tab.
That option may only available if you are in the “local” mode, not Internet mode. IE does double-duty as a network browser and a local file access tool.
To change “modes” (my name), enter something like a local address such as “C:” in the address line. To go to Internet mode, enter something like an Internet address, such as “www…”.
In local mode, the option you want may be under view->folder options, not tools.
I say “may” because there may be other configurations that affect this that I don’t know about, but that’s the way it works on two of my systems.
?
…I thought we were talking about Windows Explorer the thingie you use to see what’s on your computer which you get to by right-clicking on the Start button, not Internet Explorer the browser which you do not get to by right-clicking on the Start button.
I may not be a computer geek, but I do know that Explore(r) and IE are not the same thing. 
And Nivlac’s instructions, which I was amplifying, were for how to get to Tools and Folder Options in Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer. Which is a different thing.
Your information may be relevant, I have no idea, but my instructions were having to do with Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer. Just sayin’.
And as long as we’re here, bad cess to Microsoft for giving 'em the same damn name. Another “what were they thinking?” moment. 
Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, IE, My Computer, same program (I’m honestly not sure if it calls the same code 100%, but for all practical purposes, they’re the same). There are minor display differences depending on how/where you enter or what the program thinks you are doing (the “mode” I described).
Try it.
DDG, if I “explore”, I get a two part display with a tree structure in the left pane. If I “open”, I get a single pane with no tree structure. The latter display is configurable to open a new window for each subsequent sub-folder or display the sub-folder in the same window. You can also “explore” by right-clicking on a folder in an “open” window, or vice versa, which serves to illustrate how similar these functions are.
Try entering a web addr in a My Computer addr line. Try entering “C:” in Explorer’s addr line. Try opening a folder or exploring a folder in either.
If it doesn’t do this for you, all I can say is we must have different configurations. I just tried all these on the computer I’m using to write this (PC, Win98, IE6.0) and everything worked exactly as I described.
Alternately, install the K-Lite Codec Pack which not only has every codec to play every kind of media file you’ll ever need (including a QuickTime Alternative and a RealPlayer alternative) but also contains Media Player Classic, which is a fabulous, low overhead media player. Loads fast, stable as a table, easy to use. My favorite. Windows Media Player is an intrusive resource hog that oughta be buried at a cross roads with a stake through its heart. Classic will have your file playing before MP even opens its fat, bloated GUI… 
My bets are on a crap codec, because if it was a file association issue Windows would just ask what he wants to play the file with. Try right clicking on the file name, choosing “Open with” and pick your media player from the list. If that don’t play it, it’s a codec issue.
Umm…I do not think so.
One of us is missing something here.
Right, I understand the difference between Explore and Open. I right-click on the Start button, and I can have different kinds of panes and trees. It says Open All Users and Explore All Users. I get that.
But–neither Explore nor Open will open an Internet web page. All either Explore or Open will do for me is show me what’s on My Computer. I get a tree with a list of folders, the contents of My Computer. I do not get Internet access when I Explore or Open. No Internet. No Straight Dope.
And this Explore/Open function is known as Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer). Wiki article.
If I wanna look at a web page on the Internet and post on the Straight Dope, I have to run a program called “Internet” Explorer in order to do that (not simply “Explorer”). Wiki article.
Windows Explorer, and Internet Explorer, are two completely different pieces of software. I can use Windows Explorer to show me the folder that contains Internet Explorer on My Computer, but I cannot use the web browser Internet Explorer to show me the folders that are on My Computer. Because it is designed to browse the Web, not My Computer.
So, Internet Explorer is irrelevant to the advice that Nivlac was giving, about how to find the Folders Options in Windows Explorer (not “Internet” Explorer) Tools.
DDG, I don’t know what this non-Internet Explorer is you speak of. Maybe it’s a crippled version of the Internet Explorer that is pre-installed in all the PC computers I have ever seen, created, installed, used or use at present.
If I open the program Internet Explorer 6.0 (in 98 or XP), it defaults to a web browser and thinks in terms of http:-type addresses. Options are set accordingly.
If I open the program My Computer in 98 or XP, it defaults to a file manager for local data and thinks in terms of folders and drives like C:, D:, etc. Options are set accordingly.
If I enter a http: type address in My Computer, it becomes Internet Explorer, with all the implications of a browser.
If I enter a C:\ type address in IE 6.0, it becomes a file manager like My Computer.
If I right-click on a local folder, I have the choice of Open or Explore. Selecting Open gives me a file manager display, Explore gives me a browser display.
I have heard, but have not personally confirmed, that the underlying code is identical and/or (mostly) shared. And it makes total sense. Once Bill Gates discovered the Internet (latecomer, he), it became obvious that the browser is the all-purpose tool for most end-user purposes. Why have two different tools that do essentially the same thing: display data in various forms, including graphical? The average user has no idea what a browser is – he just wants to see something on the screen.
If what I describe here does not match your experience, all I can say is: 1) I guess I am lucky it works as well and consistently as it does for me, and 2) YMMV.
As far as the OP is concerned, this sort of thing happens all the time. Probably some app was installed that changed the file associations to point to the new program, but didn’t restore what was changed when uninstalled. Reinstalling a video viewer app, whether the old one or a new one, should fix the problem.
Originally Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer were not integrated, but the intention was always there to integrate them, hence why they are both termed “Explorer”.
But, though the integration did happen, I don’t think many people take advantage of it, and it’s no longer emphasised as much as it was going to be. In fact it may be that some integration plans have been rescinded.