A guide to using the Winamp media player, a free program that is capable of playing many types of music and video files.

What Is Winamp?

Winamp is one of the most popular media players available.

Not only is it easy to use and capable of playing many different types of Audio and Video files, it is also free.

Go to www.winamp.com and click the Download link then click Get Basic (Free). Next choose the Full version of Winamp.

You may be taken to another web site (such as Download.com), click Download Now and save the file to you hard disk.

Installing Winamp

Double-click the file you downloaded to begin installation. Click I Agree on the license agreement and then choose the Full install and click Next.

Now you can choose which icons you want, and which filetypes should be associated with Winamp so it is the default player for those media types. If unsure, leave them all ticked (except any software or music offers) and click Next.

Leave the Destination Folder as it is and click Next. If you have several user accounts on your PC, you can set up Winamp to use Separate settings per user account. Otherwise choose Shared settings for all users and click Next.

Now you will be asked to select your internet connection type, for most users this will be the default Always connected setting. Click Next to proceed.

You can now choose the ‘Skin’ you want. This determines the theme or look of Winamp. The default Modern skin should be selected unless your PC is a very slow machine, in which case try the Classic skin instead. You can always change the skin later in Winamp by going to Options > Preferences > Skins.

Click Install to begin the installation process. You will be asked to reboot your PC so save any work you have open and click OK. Your PC will now restart.

Using Winamp

Double-click the shortcut to Winamp on your desktop. Alternatively, use the Start menu > All Programs list and look for Winamp.

The first time Winamp starts you will see a User Information window. Tick Do not ask me again until next install and click Later.
You can now use the Add Media to Library option to point Winamp at any folders you have on your computer that contain music or video files. This allows the program to create a library of all your media files for easy access. Otherwise tick Do not show me this again and then click Close.

Winamp has several parts which appear in different windows such as Playlist Editor, Media Library and Video. These windows can be arranged to suit you by clicking on the title bar of the window and dragging it to where you want. Close a window by clicking the X in the top-right corner. If you can’t see these windows, click View and put a tick by the windows you want to appear.

Winamp supports many types of audio files such as .WAV and .MP3. To start playing some music, click File then Play File in the main Winamp window, browse to a song file and double click it. It should automatically start playing.

You can also click and drag a song file to the main window to start playing it now, or alternatively drag several song files to the Playlist Editor window where you can queue up a list of songs to be played one after the other. In the Playlist Editor window you can click and drag songs up and down the queue.

Double-clicking any music file will automatically open Winamp and start playing. Alternatively, select a folder or several song files, right-click and you should see an option to Enqueue in Winamp. These tracks will now be added to the playlist.

The main window features song control buttons such as Skip track forward/back, Play, Pause and Stop. There is also a volume slider as well as buttons to Repeat songs and playlists after they have played, or Shuffle the playlist so the songs are played in random order.

Video Files

Winamp also supports various Video filetypes such as .MPEG and .AVI.

As with audio files, you can double-click, or right-click and select Play in Winamp to start playing. The Video window will automatically appear if it is not already open.

Right-click the Video window to choose screen size and other video options. Click and drag the corners to resize the window.

Playlists

If you wish to save a playlist you have created, click the Manage Playlist button and choose Save Playlist.

You can print a copy of your playlist by clicking the Misc button and selecting Misc then Generate HTML playlist. This opens up a Web browser window with a page containing your playlist, and you can then print it out by going to File and Print from your browser menu.

If you close Winamp, when you open it later you may find the last playlist you played is still in the Playlist Editor window. Hit CTRL+N if you want to clear the current playlist and start a new list.