opening vlc media player to playist interface

I downloaded the most recent version of VLC media player for Windows on to my desktop running XP and when I open VLC media player it automatically opens to the Playlist interface where I can see Media, etc. tabs which makes it easier to add to the empty playlist box or convert audio files.

When I downloaded VLC media player to my laptop running Windows 7 it opens to that black box and then I have to go searching for creating playlist every time.

I looked in Tools>Preference but I couldn't see if there is a setting I needed to change so VLC media player always open to Playlist with the Media and other tabs.

How can I best change VLC media player running under W7 so Playlist always opens with the Media tab,etc?

Thanks so much.