I have searched the forum under the Mac subject and can't find a definitive answer to:

1. Can I just go to the Apple website and download Quicktime 7 to install it alongside Quicktime X on my machine with Snow Leopard. (I forgot to choose Optional Install when installing SL from the disc.)

2. If I can, how can I specify the Quicktime 7 as the default Quicktime player on my system instead of the current Quicktime X?

Or is there any simple method to get Quicktime 7 back to interface with all my current apps that need Quicktime while Quicktime X is "deactivated" but kept on the application folder?

Best

1/You should have QuickTime 7 already installed on your machine.

Go to Macintosh HD>Applications>Utilities>QuickTime Player 7 and drag it onto the dock.

2/ Go to an existing QuickTime movie in your Finder. Right click (or Control Click) the icon and select "Get Info". On the small window which opens, go to "Open with" and click the arrow next to it. You should now see a drop down menu. Select QuickTime Player 7 from that. Then click the button underneath which says "Change All".

All you have to do to install QT 7 is insert the Snow Leopard disk and in optional installs check the box for QT 7. The installer will NOT overwrite your current apps or data info (Mail, settings etc) but it will reset the system back to 10.6.0, so nothing will be lost. Just run Software Update to get you back to 10.6.2.

You can manually select QT 7 as your default player by doing a GET INFO on any file that you want QT 7 to play and use the OPEN WITH command along with the CHANGE ALL button below it. However, I've noticed that this doesn't automatically change all QT files to QT 7 and some will default back to QT X even after you set this preference. I haven't figured out why or what causes this behavior and hopefully Apple will address this in the next ".3" update of the OS.

You can't actually *deactivate* QT X but you can try deleting it and it's associated PREFS files but my guess is that OS X will attempt to repair that file if it thinks that only QT X is supposed to play that file. It's always worth trying since you can't really fatally harm Snow Leopard now (see my post about Self Healing Mac:

Mac OS X Update: Self-healing Snow Leopard ! | Go-Go-Godzilla.com (http://go-go-godzilla.com/self-healing_Snow_Leopard.html)

If I learn anything more about dealing with this goofy QT duality that Apple has created I'll let you know, but for now it's just one of those strange decisions Apple made that you'll have to live with.

Thanks, David and Robert. Your quick response is truly appreciated. Another prompt rescue from the Snow Leopard pit.

I and my colleagues have decided for the time being we will live with manually restoring Quicktime 7 as the main video/audio file player. We will leave deleting Quicktime X or messing further with SL's core apps alone hopefully until we have more free time and guts.

Sure enough as you said, Robert, I have also noticed some of my .mp4 (H.264) files output from Handbrake which were previously designated to be "opened with" Quicktime 7 prior to the installation of SL have somehow been changed to be opened with FCP (mine is version 6) instead of Quicktime X as they should have been.

Like you said. It's a mystery.