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Windows 7 - Windows Media Player 12 Crashes Virtually Everytime

Anonymous
2009-11-28T08:32:24+00:00

Hi,Almost everytime I open Windows Media Player 12 it crashes. Usually the Window opens but is greyed out and the cursor indicates that it is busy.I have tried both of the following Methods to resolve the issue. Method 1.

  1. Click on Start and in the search bar type cmd.exe
  2. Right click on cmd.exe and click on Run as Administrator
  3. In the command prompt type the following command

     net localgroup "Administrators" "NT Authority\Local Service" /add 4. Press enter and restart the computer

Method 2.Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Windows Media Player:

**Step 1.Uninstalling the Windows Media Player:**1. Go to Start and in the search type "Turn Windows features On or Off".

  1. Click on "Turn Windows features On or Off".
  2. Browse to the Media Features and uncheck the mark in front of Windows Media Player.
  3. Restart the computer

Step 2.

**Reinstalling the Windows Media Player:**1. Go to Start and in the search type "Turn Windows features On or Off".

  1. Click on "Turn Windows features On or Off".
  2. Browse to the Media Features and place a check mark in front of Windows Media Player.
  3. Restart the Computer.

Method 2 fixes the problem. However, it has gotten to the point that WMP 12 is unusable as it crashes almost everytime and I'm not prepared to have to restart my PC twice in order to view a video or listen to some music.Come on Microsoft - please get your this sorted and give us a proper, permanent fix to this inherant Windows 7/WMP 12 problem.Regards,Jonesyboi

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-07-02T20:20:22+00:00

    I had this problem for months it was really  pissing me off. But I sorted it.

    The problem was corrupted files in pictures, not wmp or the music that I assumed would be the issue.

    Cure................ go to pictures and video. I had some files that had no image. These were the corrupted files that were causing the problem. I had 8 photos  & 2 videos that I downloaded from my iPhone 5. I Just don't understand how or why it happened. Not a clue.

    Even deleting them was hard, as I went to delete them WMP would shutdown.

    So I googled and download ' File Assassin' job done all working fine now.

    I was cursing Microsoft WMP, but in fact, Apple was the cause of the problem.

    Good luck, WMP is so much better than ITunes.

    If it works let me know. I Just would like to know if it helps someone.

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2010-04-29T07:44:58+00:00

    Hi,

    I would suggest you to follow these steps and check if it helps:

    1.       Go to start and type in services.msc in the search box.

    1. Now scroll down to Windows Media Player Network sharing service.
    2. Right click on the service and select restart.
    3. Restart your computer and try playing a media file again.

    If this doesn’t help, then try these steps:

    1. Right click on computer and select Manage.
    2. Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups".
    3. Click "Groups" and then right click "Administrators"
    4. Click "Add to group..."
    5. Click "Add" and then select "Advanced".
    6. Click "Find Now", double click "Local Service".
    7. Click "Ok".
    8. "NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
    9. Click "Ok" and Close Computer Management and reboot.

    If still you are facing the same issue, then try performing clean boot and check if any third party services running in the background is causing the issue, here is the link:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

    Please respond and let us know the status of the issue.

    Azam – Microsoft Support.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2009-12-02T20:12:46+00:00

    I'm having similar issues except that when I try to load the media player I get the message windows media player is not installed properly and must be reinstalled, do you want to go to the microsoft website. If I do so then the message appears there is no download for this os (win 7 64 bit home premium).

    I've unchecked the media features and rechecked and scannow finds no errors.

    There should be some method for media center repairs within the os.

    hops9807

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-11-30T09:13:53+00:00

    Hi Fouzan A,

    Thanks for your ideas. Unfortunately, neither worked!

    I was unable to disable hardware acceleration on my NVIDIA 8800GT graphics card.

    Running the sfc /scannow gave no errors.

    Windows Media Player Troubleshooting didn't work either.

    The only way I can rectify the problem is by disabling Windows Media Player, restarting Windows, re-enabling WMP then restarting once again. Clearly this is unacceptable as a remedy.

    You asked if a particular file causes the problem. It seems to most commonly occur when trying to open MPEG files that I have generated from a Sony Digital Camcorder. When this happens I get the error message: C:\User\Public\Videos\Filename.wmv   Server execution failed .

    However, recently WMP has been crashing when I try to open it manually i.e. not opening a file.

    Any further assistance would be greatly appreciated as one of the main reasons I upgraded to Windows 7 was for its ability to manage media files and libraries so efficiently. Unfortunately, so far I have been very disappointed.

    Kind regards,

    Jonesyboi

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-11-29T12:56:03+00:00

    Hi  Jonesyboi,

    Welcome to Microsoft Answers!

    Does the Windows Media Player crashes only when tried to play a particular file or other files too?

    I would suggest you to make Windows Media Player as a default player.

    You can also change hardware acceleration and check.

    Try reducing (or turning off) video hardware acceleration by doing the following

    1.      Open Screen Resolution by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, and then, under Appearance and Personalization, clicking Adjust screen resolution.

    2.      Click Advanced Settings, click the Troubleshoot tab, and then click Change settings.

    Note that some video card drivers do not permit you to change settings.

    3.      Move the Hardware acceleration slider toward None to reduce or turn off video hardware acceleration.

    For further information, visit the below mentioned link:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Play-an-audio-or-video-file-frequently-asked-questions

    If you’re having trouble using Windows Media Player, you can try using the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter to automatically find and fix some common problems.

    Open the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Click View all, and then click Windows Media Player Settings.

    For further information, visit the below mentioned link:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Getting-started-with-Windows-Media-Player

     If this does not help, you can try doing System File Checker.

            1.      Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command

    Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the

                     password, or click Allow.

            2.      Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    sfc /scannow

               The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

      For further information, visit the below mentioned link:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

     Hope this information helped!

     Thanks and regards

     Fouzan – Microsoft support

     Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum 

     http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en- US/answersfeedback/threads/ and let 

     us know what you think.

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