Skip to main content

Watch movies with 'AboveNormal' priority

Posted April 2003 by Steve Sinchak

This tweak will launch WindowsMediaPlayer with the 'AboveNormal' priority setting when opening a mediafile.

Having trouble watching a movie when you also have a lot of background processes going on?

Here's what to do:

  1. Create a new textfile in the root of c:, but instead of giving it the .txt extension you name it  wmp_AboveNormal.bat

  2. Right-click this file and choose 'Edit', you'll see it'll open notepad. Put this line in:
    start /AboveNormal C:"Program Files""Windows Media Player"\wmplayer.exe %1 %*

  3. Save (make sure you save it as .bat, not as .txt) and close.

Now all you have to do is register your mediafiles to this batchfile. Here's how to do that:

  1. In Windows Explorer choose Tools>Folder Options >File Types

  2. Scroll down(press A) to the AVI filetype

  3. Click 'Change' and point to c:\wmp_AboveNormal.bat . Click OK and Close.

Now everytime you dubbleclick an .avi WMP will open with the 'AboveNormal' -priority setting !  (Repeat steps 4-6 to register all mediatypes you want to be opened this way.)

These are all the settings: Realtime, High, AboveNormal, Normal, BelowNormal, Low.

*Realtime is not recommended unless you have a dual-CPU system!

Related Posts


If you own a Google Chromecast streaming device, you can easily share a browser tab in Chrome browser or even your entire desktop.  This can be very useful when presenting from your laptop or if you just want to watch something on a big screen that is only on your PC.  The only requirement is you must be on the same network as your Chromecast...

Read More

If you are a fan of minimalist desktop experiences, hiding the desktop icons are an easy way to clean up the Windows interface.  Instead of saving everything to your desktop, use the default profile folders such as downloads and documents.  Actually hiding all the icons on your desktop is a very simple customization hidden in the right-click context menu.  Just right-click on the desktop, select View...

Read More

Google security researchers have published details about a major security flaw found in the SSL protocol that is used to encrypt data transferred between your browser and a web server. SSL is typically used in situations where logon credentials are validated...

Read More

Enabling two-factor authentication is a great way to add an additional level of protection to your Microsoft account.  Even if your password is stolen, your account is still protected because two-factor authetication requires an additional level of verification to log in. Microsoft calls their version of two-factor authentication "two-step verification" and it works by providing you with a random code...

Read More