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IDEA: small plugin-toolbar (or similar) audio player in Windows Explorer

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app103:
So this idea of player integrated (at least by it's control interface) into Windows XP explorer have slowly creeped into my head. It should be no hack, IMO, so no interface-hooking. What got me thinking it was possible was that I have installed some Windows Explorer add-on toolbars, lastly Explorer Breadcrumbs (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/minimalist-explorer-breadcrumbs-for-windows-xp/) which made me think that there is a legit way to add toolbars to Explorer. This is also explained some here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/jj673982%28v=vs.85%29.aspx , http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144095%28VS.85%29.aspx#unknown_73276 , http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250436%28v=vs.85%29.aspx to mention few. I just can't program (I've tried repeatedly, I blame the genes ;) so I'm not sure how difficult those things, explained there, are, but it seems there is a legit interface to do it in Explorer. Windows XP Explorer, that is, mainly. Because I think XP is still the best, most efficient, stable i.e. usable Windows there is.
-goldencut (March 15, 2013, 10:48 AM)
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You are talking about Windows COM programming, which isn't as trivial as you may think.

I have done a few toolbars in the past and they weren't even very complicated ones, but except for the IE/Explorer clock, I found myself frequently banging my head against the wall, trying to get things to work, things I thought should have been simple.

And when you consider that there would have to be 2 versions of this toolbar to accommodate all Windows users, both 32-bit and 64-bit, and that I do not possess the means to compile a 64-bit version, never mind test it to make sure it works, and I can't even test to make sure it works on 32-bit Vista/Win7/8,  I think you'll understand why I have decided to retire from the toolbar biz, with no plans to return in the foreseeable future.

And even though I do have the code for a blank toolbar that will integrate well with Explorer on 32-bit XP, and could in theory do one that would only work on XP and older systems (I am sure you'd be ok with that, being that you are still on XP, too), my one and only experience with coding a simple MP3 player was such a complete disaster that I named it GruMP3, due to its ability to make normally happy people, quite grumpy.  :-[

About the only useful advice I could possibly give you that may lead to you finding the toolbar that you seek, would be to suggest you stop looking for one for Explorer and start looking for one for IE (the browser). Often, but not always, the same toolbars that work in IE will also work in Explorer (check under View menu->Toolbars).

But this comes with a warning, one you should not dismiss lightly: Any time you start messing around with IE toolbars written by others, you are engaging in an activity that is comparable to playing in a mine field. But instead of getting your arms, legs, or head blown off, it will be your computer that will likely end up infected with some nasty malware or spyware. Clean toolbars written by ethical coders are few and far between, which is one of the reasons why I took a crack at making toolbars, in the first place. There were things that I wanted, and I am too chicken to go trusting other people's toolbars to try to acquire.

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