WMP won't play mpg files

Earlier until a week ago I was able to play MPG video files properly on my Windows Media Player 11 running on Windows XP. Yesterday I received a video in .mpg extension and when I try to play, i get the following error:

“Windows Media Player cannot play the file. This can occur when another program or operating system component encounters a problem but does not communicate the nature of the problem to the Player. Close Web Help”

The problem is not just with this file but with the earlier files as well which were working fine. Also it wont play either mpeg video files. Don’t know what went wrong suddenly. Do you guys have any idea about this?

Mpeg and mpg are almost same file so if one is not playing, second will obvious not play. Anyways, just go to Start > RUN > type ‘dxdiag’ and press Enter. This will test few things. If it shows any error, simply re-install DirectX. This will fix the problems related to mpeg1.

Thank you very much Maee. That really fixed the problem. Now I was able to play those videos in WMP without any problem or error. But later some hours, I installed Samsung pc studio 3 to move some files on my smartphone and since then again Windows Media Player stopped playing mpg/mpeg files. Is it the Samsung Software creating the issue?

Yes, I don’t know why but it is the Samsung Software preventing WMP to play those file types. In order to fix it you will need to remove it from your system.

As far as moving files to phone is concerned, why don’t you do it in Mass Storage mode? You dont need any software for the same.

I've just downloaded an update for Samsung 3 as posted before causing the MPG error and this has resolved this problem.

I had the same problem.
Also due to the samsung software..oops