The Windows port of VLC usually starts up with the Qt interface which is used in the Linux one as well. The user can decide to use the Skins interface instead to be able to modify the interface according to his or her mood.
To download VLC follow theis link to get to vlc player download page.
How to store streaming station presets
To use VLC as a streaming client, store your station presets under the Media Library on the Playlist panel (not the bookmarks and not the actual playlist itself).
Open the playlist panel (Ctrl-L or click on the Playlist button). Click on the Plus button at the bottom of the panel. (A dropdown menu will appear.) Select “Advanced Open” from the dropdown menu. (A new panel, named Open Media, will appear.) Select the “Networking” tab on the Open Media panel. Enter the full URL of the streaming station in the Address field. e.g. http://mystation.org:8000/mystream.ogg Click the Enqueue button at the bottom of the panel. How to associate media files to VLC
This should be done through the VLC settings interface, choose “Tools | Preferences ” and then click on the “File Associations” button. Select any file extension that you wish to open with VLC, then click “Apply”. This should change all media files icons to the VLC cone, and double-clicking any of them should open VLC and immediately start playing the media.
If this seems to have no effect on the UI, and/or double-clicking the file icon does not start VLC, check that you have correctly set Windows preferences through “Start | Default Programs” (on Vista; see the relevant item on Windows XP or newer Windows OS; possibly this is not applicable to Windows 2000). In that UI click on “Set default programs”, select the “VLC media player” item and check the description (it will usually say “All default settings for this program are active”). Then choose your own course of actions by either clicking on “Set this program as default” or “Choose default settings for this program”.
Other ways to achieve the same effects are as follows (not really recommended).
Use Windows Explorer’s context menu In Windows Explorer, right-click a file you wish to open. Click “Open With” in the context menu that pops up. Click “VLC media player” to use VLC just this once, or click “Default program…” Click the name of the program (VLC) which you want to be used to open the file. If VLC is not displayed, click Browse to locate it on your hard drive.
Alternatively:
In Windows Explorer, right-click the file you want to open with VLC. Click Properties in the context menu that pops up. On the General tab, click Change. Click the name of the program (VLC) which you want to be used to open the file.
Either of these options affects all files that have the same filename extension (the letters after the filename’s period) as the file you selected. For example, if you change the program that opens goober.avi, then all .avi files will be opened with VLC.
Rerun the installer Reinstall VLC and choose the “associate files” option when it comes up. Please note that on Vista and newer OSes this will not cure the “Windows Media Player won’t go away” symptom, and you should go the “Set default program” route instead, as described above. Edit the registry
Warning: this instruction set is outdated and should not be used. Direct registry editing should be avoided anyway unless you’re desperate and you really really know what you’re doing.
Warning: use this technique only if you really know what you are doing! And be sure to back-up your registry first.
Open a text editor, like Notepad (but not WordPad). Copy this text below. Modify the strings C:\\Program Files\\VideoLAN\\VLC\\vlc.exe to match your VLC installation. Save as vlc.reg. Execute vlc.reg (adding this data to your registry). Enjoy VLC :)