Configuring multiple instances of Zoom Player

Zoom Player is capable of running multiple and completely separated (different settings) copies (instances) and there are several ways achieve this, each with their own benefits.

Single Copy, Same Configuration, Multiple Instances:

In this setup, all you need to do is enable the "Multiple Instances" settings under "Advanced Options / System". This setting allows Zoom Player to run more than one copy at a time.

Alternatively, you can use the "/multinst" command line parameter.

Multiple Copies, Different Configuration, Multiple Instances #1:

Create a folder in a path where windows allows for full write access, for example "C:\ZoomPlayer".

Next, perform a legacy (single folder) install for each Zoom Player instance into separate folders, for example:
"C:\ZoomPlayer\1\"
"C:\ZoomPlayer\2\"
"C:\ZoomPlayer\3\"
And so forth...

Next, Open "C:\ZoomPlayer\1\zplayer.exe", press Ctrl+O to open the options dialog, switch to the advanced options dialog and switch to the "System" page. Enable the "Save configuration to a local file" setting and if you are setting up multiple instances for remote control take the time to pick a unique TCP/IP port for each instance (valid port numbers that will have very little chance of conflicting with existing applications are "33000-65500"). Press OK to close the options dialog and close Zoom Player.

Now Open "C:\ZoomPlayer\2\zplayer.exe" and proceed to enable the "Save configuration to a local file" setting and pick a unique TCP/IP port. Continue with this procedure for every instance of Zoom Player installed.

Alternatively, instead of running each copy and manually setting the local configuration file setting, you can create a zero byte file called "zplayer.local" and place a copy in each instance's folder (e.g. "C:\ZoomPlayer\1\").

Multiple Copies, Different Configuration, Multiple Instances #2:

Instead of saving the configuration to a local file, you can instruct Zoom Player to use a different registry location to save its setting. Ensure each instance uses a different registry location and you wont have any conflicts.

Zoom Player remembers most of its settings in the Windows Registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VirtuaMedia\ZoomPlayer), so the next step is to tell one of the Zoom Player copies to save its settings in a different registry location. This is done by using any text editor to create a file named "zplayer.regpath" within one of the Zoom Player folders (doesn't matter which one as one will use the default registry location and the other with the "zplayer.regpath" file will use a new registry location).

To specify the actual location, you need to write a line within the newly created "zplayer.regpath" file, for example:

Another issue you may encounter is that certain control applications (such as Girder) may require a way to distinguish between the two running Instances. This is done by adding a second line into the "zplayer.regpath" file, for example:

The second line defines a new window name for Zoom Player which makes it easier for 3rd party application to distinguish between different instances.

A third line can be used to specify which folder Zoom Player should use to store data files (skins, the default playlist, etc), for example:

With the "zplayer.regpath" file in the Zoom Player folder, you're good to go. If for some reason this doesn't seem to be working, more than likely it's because the text editor you used to create the "zplayer.regpath" file, actually created the file as "zplayer.regpath.txt", so double check that the file name is correct.

Single Copy, Different Configuration, Multiple Instances:

Zoom Player keeps its decoder configuration files in a folder called "AutoMediaGraph" in the Zoom Player folder. In cases where you want to use the same decoding configuration, just using different Zoom Player setting, you can specify the external configuration file through the "/CONFIG" command line parameter. For example:

To create the "comp2.local" file in this example, you need to enable Zoom Player to use a local configuration file (Adv. Options / System & Files - "Save configuration to a local file"). Once enabled, a file called "zplayer.local" will be created on your system. This file contains all the configuration data (except for which decoders are used to play content). Take this file and rename it to anything you like ("comp2.local" in this example) and then point to it using the "/CONFIG" command line parameter.