Vista-- Media Player 11

I recently uninstalled Windows XP SP3 and installed a fresh Vista copy. Installation went fine without any problem. This is the very first time i am using Vista operating system hence dont have enough idea about its troubleshooting. Now the problem i am facing is with Windows Media Player. It has version 11 but is not able to play most of my movies.

I tried installing several codec but yet it wont play file formats like mpeg, avi, mkv, etc. Finally a guy suggested me to re-install WMP 11 and it will fix the problem. Well now another problem is i am not getting from where to uninstall or re-installing WMP in Vista.

Can anyone please tell me where to start? Many Thanks.

Yeah, uninstallation process for WMP in vista is bit different than that in Windows. XP. Just follow the below provided steps for doing it in vista:

• Click Start > Control panel -> Programs and Features, Select "Turn Windows features on or off" (on left hand side).
• Now simply Uncheck Windows media player and hit "OK"

Thats it. To turn it back on, follow the same steps and check mark the box.

Actually you can just Turn ON or Off Windows Media Player in Vista but cannot uninstall or re-install. It is the part of Vista. So, lets go back to your first problem. As you said you are not able to play several video file formats, can you tell me which codec did you tried installing? I am sure it is the codec problem and the best i can suggest you is K-lite . Just Google for the same, download K-Lite and install. Your WMP should comfortably play all those file formats.

I too agree with Scott2580. Instead of re-installing media player, i think you should try out fixing the codec's issue. There is no problem with WMP. Can we have a little bit more information? Did you recived any error message while trying to play those avi or mkv files? If yes, What is the exact error ? Is it a video that will not play? If so, what file extension is the file you are trying to view?

Even i am having the same problem. Most of my Video files are not able to play in Vista Windows Media Player, it gives me an error message saying:

"Windows Media Player encountered a problem while playing the file. For additional assistance, click Web Help."

When i click on that "Web Help" link it tells me to check the following URL: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...nalid=C00D7176

I dont get any useful information there. Can anyone please tell me what will be the correct codec for me? Many thanks in advance.

Hello Palaksi. Can you tell me which file format are you trying to view when you get that error message? If you are trying to view DVD's then you will need to install the following codec http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail...k/1080441198/1 . I use the same and all my videos work very fine on WMP including Media Player Classic.

Hello Friends. I dont know about others but i am using Creative Audigy on my Vista running laptop and it works fine, WMP11 doesn't play DVD's though all other audio works fine and online video works fine. I think you guys should give it a try.

Looking at the event viewer I have more information of what is causing the problem:

Windows Media Player Crash

Code:

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Faulting application wmplayer.exe, version 11.0.5744.6324, time stamp 0x45234fea, faulting module mswmdm.dll, version 11.0.5744.6324, time stamp 0x45235887, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x00031e22, process id 0xbe8, application start time 0x01c725b0a98c95c7.

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Winamp Crash

Code:

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Faulting application winamp.exe, version 5.3.2.1003, time stamp 0x456339e4, faulting module mswmdm.dll, version 11.0.5744.6324, time stamp 0x45235887, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x00031e22, process id
0x73c, application start time 0x01c725b238c19fb8.

---

I downloaded mswmdm.dll from a 3rd party site. I am trying to override the hopefully broken dll, but I cant override it because it is always in use. I tried safe mode, and even safe mode with command prompt and I tried using DOS to do a copy but no luck, says access denied. Any help? PS, this dll seems to be part of the digital rights management, worthless, I don't even want it.

Thanks!

Have you ever tried running DOS from Floppy? If yes and you have Windows XP Installation disc with you then you could try copying from Recovery Console. You could see if system file checker will recognize the module as damaged.

Also try running System File Checker "sfc /scannow" as an administrator to fix the problems related to system files if any.

Thank you very much for the help and suggestion Hayes. That did the trick, I booted into DOS and simply did a copy and overrided the dll file. Now it is working perfectly, I guess that dll got corrupt. Appreciated.