Ask the Windows 2000 Dev Team

Every other week we put your How-Come-You-Did-That questions to the Windows 2000 development team. Submit your questions here.

Windows Media Player, Run DVD, Find the IP Address

Q: I noticed that Windows Media Player is included with Windows 2000. Isn't that just for listening to music? Why would you include it in a business OS?

A: PC-based multimedia isn't just for entertainment anymore. While most folks probably use Windows Media Player for listening to live or recorded music that they download from the Web, many companies are using a combination of Windows Media Services and Windows Media Player to deliver business-related video and audio content to users' desktops.

While logged on to my Windows 2000 computer at Microsoft, I have access to an enormous amount of media content. Training classes are typically available via live, streamed video and are also archived for on-demand viewing. I can attend most training events from the comfort of my office. Streaming video of company events, such as TechEd, seminars, and company-wide meetings, are also available, either live or from an archive. I can listen to audio content from technical sessions delivered by the product developers while I answer e-mail, and even keep up with current affairs by watching a live feed of MSNBC — all using Windows Media Player.

It's a business tool like your corporate intranet or e-mail. And it also happens to play most compressed music you'll find on the Web quite well.

Q: Is there anything I can do to get DVD movies to run on Windows 2000 Professional?

A: Windows 2000 includes a software application that plays DVD movies, DVDPlay.exe. It requires a hardware-based MPEG decoder. You can find a list of Windows 2000 compatible decoders in either of the following two sites:

• Windows Hardware Compatibility
  In the dropdown box labelled In the following types, choose Motion Video, then click Go

• Check Windows 2000 Hardware and Software Compatibility
  Click the Hardware Devices button. From the dropdown box labeled Choose a Device Type, choose Video. Enter the name of your computer manufacturer.

Q: Where did you hide the IP address? Under Windows 98, I ran WINIPCFG to get it.

A: Winipcfg.exe does not ship with Windows 2000. In Windows 2000, you use the command-line tool IPCONFIG.EXE to view IP configuration information. To view the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway currently assigned to network interfaces for your computer, at the command line type ipconfig and press ENTER. To display the full configuration information, including machine address, DNS, WINS, and DHCP-lease information, type ipconfig/all and press ENTER.