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'). 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). 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. Select any file extension that you wish to open with VLC, then click 'Apply'. This should be done through the VLC settings interface, choose 'Tools | Preferences ' and then click on the 'Set up Associations.' button. See also: VLC HowTo/Make VLC the default player#Windows Click the Enqueue button at the bottom of the panel.Enter the full URL of the streaming station in the Address field.Select the 'Networking' tab on the Open Media panel.(A new panel, named Open Media, will appear.) Select 'Advanced Open' from the dropdown menu.Click on the Plus button at the bottom of the panel.Open the playlist panel ( Ctrl-L or click on the Playlist button).

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). To tweak hotkeys settings, go to Settings->Preferences->Interface->Hotkeys settings Note: these shortcuts are only default settings and can be customized (along with many others).

See also: QtHotkeys and How to set global hotkeys

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