Windows Media Player: Won't quit

When playing music with WMP 11, I noticed that clicking the "x" button to
close it does not actually result in exiting the program. My song files still
play and the WMP11 process is still active. In order to completely close the
program, I must use the task manager and end the process. Any suggestions as
to why this might be?

Not a solution, but a confirmation that this is a problem. I have
experienced it myself and have not yet found a solution beyond remembering
to stop the music first before closing. And, to add, it happened on a clean
installation with no other software installed yet, so the bug is definitely
within some part of Vista. I suspect it is either a supplied codec or a
sound driver file, but have yet to determine which.

Can you tell me what sound card you are using, and what version of Vista is
installed (home/business/ultimate and whether 32 or 64 bit)?

Do you notice that the Media Preview process (I assumed called by explorer)
is often in memory when MP stays in memory. Wmprph.exe

I'm having the same problem on Windows 2000 Pro running WMP 7 !!!!

[SomeDJ]

Hi. I'm having this same problem. Fresh install of Vista Ultimate 32bit using the onboard audio of the MB. Thing is I did the same install on another system the very same day and it's not doing it on that one. The only difference between the two installs was that on the one that's having the problem Windows Easy Transfer and Easy Transfer Companion were used.

Anyone find a solution for this?? It is quite annoying to know that WMP
doesn't shut down and continues to play in the background. I'm running Vista
Business 32 bit system. Is windows going to fix this problem??

Strange, I have a Vista laptop running beside me when answering these
questions and mine shuts down instantly when I click that X. It does in XP
as well. If your just won't try clicking the stop playing button on the play
controls first.

I doubt Windows will fix the problem but a programmer might at some
point ;-)

WMP on Ultimate here will continue to play music if Media Centre is open
before WMP is opened. After closing WMP I have to close MC to get the
music to stop but I don't know of a fix.

[vrise]

I think this problem might be related to the Media Center feature. I don't know how to fix it, but it definitely started here after I ran Media Center for the first time.

Hi just to say that i9 have the same problem, only occured in the last
couple of days, i running Vista Ultimate 32bit formatted clean install
3mnths ago,
Has any-one found a solution?

I had the same problems with Windows Media Player that everyone here has
experienced. I however the culprit it was itunes that kept this MC
active even though I had closed the application.

I hope this helps anyone who is experiencing this problem and happens
to have itunes installed.

If you have this problem after you install Service Pack 1, that would be
more interesting. There are some instances in Windows Vista pre-SP1 where
external apps can leave a bogus reference count open to the player, thus
preventing shutdown. In SP1 the player is smarter about making sure
reference counts are valid.

You should be extremely less likely to have this problem once you install
Vista SP1. Is SP1 installed to this system?

I am having the problems where the media player is not quitting AND I
am running Vista 32bit SP1. It was doing it before, and it still does
it now :(

I presume I can just create a DMP from the windows task manager by
right clicking on the wmplayer.exe process and choosing Create Dump
File. I have done this, but the file size is about 365Megs. Where can
I upload this to?

I have this problem as well -- but ONLY on SP1.

I am using Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

I have narrowed the problem down somewhat. First, I have to open WMP by
double-clicking on a media file (e.g., mp3). If I open WMP through the start
menu, the failure won't happen. Then, I have to hibernate the system without
closing WMP. After resuming, when I try to exit WMP, the process won't end.
Then when I try to open WMP again (through Start menu or double-clicking) the
window won't open.

I'm running Windows XP Service pack 2 and have the same problem with
WMP 10.00.00.4058

[xandypx]

I had made another post on this same topic, but have now further information.

The culprit is Windows Media Center. It holds WMP in a suspended mode so that files are available to Media Center extenders. If you do not use Media Center, you can turn off the "Feature???" by going into Control Panel, selecting the option for "Default Programs", then selecting "Set Program Access and Computer Defaults". Under the "Custom" Dropdown, look for the "Choose a default Media Player" section. Next to the entry for Windows Media Center, uncheck the box for "Allow Access to this program".

Reboot the computer for these changes to take affect, as it is possible and probable that Media Center is already running in the backround.

You will also notice after these changes that the Media Center program disappears from your Start - All Programs Menu.