MP3s not saving properly

[marshahu]

My friends PC has developed a problem where it has problems saving MP3 files. I send her MP3s across MSN Messenger version 6.0 and when she clicks to accept them the following error message appears:

"ur file cant be saved. its name may contain unreadable characters, its name plus path may be too long, or the folder may be read only, deleted or otherwise unavailable. please specify another file name and/or choose a different folder"

Then when she saves the files, they dont automatically open with Windows Media Player. I always encoded MP3s using Creative Media Source (the app included with the Audigy 2 soundcard) and I always was able to send her MP3s in the past. She claims that she had the same problem when receiving MP3s from other people.

Since she lives far away from where I live, is it possible to rememdy this problem by using the remote desktop feature in netmeeting . If so how can I go about solving this problem. She is using MSN Messenger 6.1 and her OS is XP Pro

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me

 

[Toejam31]

Have you tried zipping up the MP3s with a compression utility like WinZIP or WinRAR, using a short file name (eight characters or less), and sending them as an attachment? You could even send them by e-mail, if the attachments are spanned.

Having a dedicated area online where files can be publicly or privately accessed is a good idea. I have an account through <A HREF="http://www.dapdrive.com/" target="_new">DapDrive</A> that is 100MB, and this has come in handy a few times in the past for file transfers. Considering that it costs only about $4.80 per month for the server space and bandwidth, it wouldn't break your wallet. A similar, but even more powerful service is <A HREF="http://www.xdrive.com/free_trial.jsp" target="_new">Xdrive</A>.

You might also try using another chat program which can send and transmit data, like <A HREF="http://www.paltalk.com/PalTalkSite/" target="_new">Paltalk</A> or <A HREF="http://web.icq.com/" target="_new">ICQ</A>. Another possibility is using <A HREF="http://www.irc.org/" target="_new">IRC</A>, or a peer-2-peer sharing program like <A HREF="http://www.winmx.com/" target="_new">WinMX</A>. You could always use a program like this to find a privately held <A HREF="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/d-morris/#21" target="_new">server</A>, which has more restricted access, so not everyone could see and download your files.

Here's another method you may have not considered: <A HREF="http://www.bittorent.com/" target="_new">Bittorent</A>

As for the encoding, most people consider the best program for this purpose to be <A HREF="http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/11/1/2/11-1-2-15.shtml" target="_new">LAME</A>.

Personally, if I was going to use a remote desktop program, my choice would be <A HREF="http://www.symantec.com/pcanywhere/Consumer/" target="_new">pcAnywhere</A>. Higher security, speed and control. Show your friend how to install the client, get their current IP address, and that's about it, including easy file transfers. You might also find this interesting: <A HREF="http://https://www.gotomypc.com/mm/g25LMAffilepv4lp.tmpl?SessionInfo=100637820/8AE12678971DCD5/null" target="_new">GoToMyPC</A>

I always found remote sessions with Netmeeting to be tedious, slow, and due to many possible unforeseen problems, more trouble than it's worth to set up and run.

You might try to talk your friend into using something other than Windows Media Player for MP3 playback, like <A HREF="http://www.winamp.com/player/" target="_new">Winamp</A> or <A HREF="http://sonique.lycos.com/" target="_new">Sonique</A>, for example. Here's a link toward many other programs of this nature:

<A HREF="http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/MPEG-audio-player.html" target="_new">Get an MP3 Player for your System</A>

All of this might be nothing but workarounds ... but the heart of Windows troubleshooting is exactly that. When bulling your way through straight ahead doesn't produce results, go around the obstacle. There's always a "back door" solution to a problem, if you look hard enough.

Toey

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[marshahu]

Thank you for your suggestions, it is very obvious that you went through a lot of trouble to help. The only problem here is my friend is not so into PCs as me, so do you know any simple way to solve this problem that she has with MSN?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me

 

[Toejam31]

Actually, no ... I don't, as the problem could stem from many different things. And I've never really had much use for the program (or much experience using it) as I use a FTP server for dedicated file transfers that need quite a bit of bandwidth.

Perhaps this help forum will be of more use, while you search for a solution:

<A HREF="http://www.askmarvin.ca/forums/index.php?showforum=17" target="_new">MSN Messenger Issues</A>

As you will see, using the program can be something of a problem for more users than just your friend ... which is why I offered alternate, easier, and more powerful solutions. Just because something is new, doesn't mean it's difficult to grasp, or can't be learned, even by an inexperienced user.

These kind of things are just part of learning to use a computer, effectively ... without being stuck with default MS software add-ons, which are definitely not always the best solution. IMHO, for whatever it's worth, people who don't care to learn wasted their money. No offense intended, certainly ... but that's how I feel about it.

Best of luck. Perhaps someone else here has had a similar problem, and can provide the method to fix the issue.

Toey

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[arkus]

From the error message you mentioned above I think it's worth changing the default download location to C:\ instead of wherever the default normlly is. It's *possible* (although unlikely) that the path and filename exceed WinXp's character limit. Otherwise the save location may be causing problems. Either way, I think the solution lies in MSN Messenger Tools>Options.

Of course, there really is no need to send anyone an mp3 these days with Bittorent and DC++

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[marshahu]

I just thought, if she reinstalled MSN Messenger 6.0, would that work?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me