Libraries (Music/Videos/Pictures/etc.) are not populating in Windows Media Player (WMP) and Windows Media Center (WMC). How do I fix this user-specific problem?

Question

Libraries (Music/Videos/Pictures/etc.) are not populating in Windows Media Player (WMP) and Windows Media Center (WMC). How do I fix this user-specific problem?

Anonymous

I've been Googling this particular problems for weeks with no luck. All the similar articles I have found for this problem are usually from 2009, and yet none of them show any consistent resolution!

The problem in a nutshell:

On my Windows user account, Windows Media Player (WMP), Windows Media Player Network Streaming Service (WMP NSS), and Windows Media Center (WMC) will not populate my media files into their corresponding libraries.
The folders that are in the libraries are populated with media files, and I can "double-click" any media file to open it manually in WMP and play it.
Even though there are many media files in the folders that make up the libraries, WMP, WMP NSS, and WMC do not "see them"
Older versions of WMP allowed you to "import" media, and manually "refresh" if the media folders had more up-to-date content than what was showing in WMP.
Uninstalling WMP, WMP NSS, and WMC, rebooting, cleaning up settings, and reinstalling WMP, WMP NSS, and WMC did not solve anything.

Here's what's really annoying. I am 100% certain that the problem is user specific (to my Windows account). To verify this, I created a new user account called "Temp" and I logged into the PC as "Temp" (using Fast User Switching). I launched WMP, and it immediately starting populating the libraries in WMP. When I added new media to the explorer folders (that make up the libraries), it appeared in WMP with no user intervention.

I contacted HP for help (this PC is only about 3 weeks old). They wanted me to re-image/recover my entire PC. I basically told the tech he was an idiot? Why would I re-image my entire PC for a user specific issue. I immediately thought of two workarounds (that work because the problem is user specific), and shared them with him. He still suggested re-imaging the PC. Idiot. Here are the two workarounds I could do:

Create a new Windows user account called "Media". Move all of my media into the "Media" account, and setup WMP, WMP NSS, and WMC (which would allow me to stream from DLNA/UPnP devices on my network). The only drawback is that some of the content is DRM protected, and I might have license issues. I HATE, HATE, HATE DRM (but that is an issue for another day).
Abandon my Windows user account (and rename it something like "OldChuck"), create a new Windows user account (like "Chuck") and start migrating all my files documents and settings manually. I believe the problem was introduced during migration (Windows "Easy" Transfer Wizard) from an old Windows XP netbook, so I wouldn't do the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard again (in this case). Drawbacks include having to reconfigure all my settings for all of my apps, and the same licensing/DRM issues. Did I mention that the only thing that DRM is good for is locking paying consumers out of their own, PAID, legitimate media? Sorry. Went off track again.

Can some WMP/WMP NSS guru PLEASE tell me how to do the following:

1. Force WMP to populate its libraries from the corresponding folders (with media in them)?

2. "Import" media into WMP when it's being stubborn. OR

A good, clean way to "reset" my "Libraries" for my Windows User account, and
a consistent method to make WMP automatically update it's libraries based on available content.

Honestly, I wouldn't even care about WMP (it is just about the worst Media Player ever), except for being able to use WMP NSS from various DLNA/UPnP devices (Blu-Ray Devices). The only time I use "brand-name" media players is when I'm playing DRM protected content (iTunes Movies, UltraViolet Movies, etc.).

The same library problem seems to carry over to other Media Servers (not just WMP NSS). MediaMall's PlayOn and PlayLater are not showing media in their library folders when browsing from the network. Even XBMC isn't serving files from this account over the network.

So basically, I can't stream my media to my network devices because something is screwed up with the Windows Media Libraries.

HELP!!! PLEASE!!!

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5 answers

Answer 1

1 You are right, it shouldn't be this hard.

2 Are your other libraries displaying & behaving correctly? In WMP & in Windows explorer Navigation bar?

3 Is there anything else wrong on the PC?

4 Is WMP retaining the settings you put in at WMP, Organise, Manage libraries, Music?

5 Are the library folders listed correctly at

5.1 HKEY_USERS\YourUserAccount\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

and

5.2 HKEY_USERS\YourUserAccount\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

6 The only other fix that I have heard of is this[I have not tried it as I've not had to]. It is a WMP11 fix that is said to apply to WMP12 as well - You cannot view, add, or delete items in the library in Windows Media Player 11. The suggested procedure is:

6.1 Delete the WMP library database to force a complete rebuild - Close WMP, in the Start menu search box type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player In the Windows explorer window that appears delete all the files [but not sub-folders].

and if that doesn't work then go a step further

6.2 [similar to but not quite the same as 6.2] Delete the WMP database cache - Close WMP, in the Start menu search box type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player In the Windows explorer window that appears, select the Media Player folder in the left-hand pane & delete it together with its sub-folders.

Amen.
My libraries (media and documents) are working correctly in Windows Explorer. If, in Explorer, I attempt to open the local WMP NSS device, it opens WMP, where my libraries are empty.
No. This PC is three weeks old. Also the problem only happens in my user account.
Yes, but it does not add media (music) in those folders to my WMP libraries.

5.1) My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos are listed in this registry folder. My TV Recordings (which would be in HKLM instead of HKCU since it's not user specific).

5.2) The same as 5.1 in this case.

6.1) I just tried it. Should there be any progress noticeable? My libraries show no media in WMP again? Should I shutdown these two services before deleting (with WMP closed), and start them up again after these files are deleted: WSearch (Windows Search indexing) and WMPNetworkSvc (WMP NSS)?

6.2) I just tried it. Same as 6.1, should there be any noticeable progress, and should I shut down WSearch and WMPNetworkSvc before deleting these files/folders?

Thank you. Very helpful.

Answer 2

1 You are right, it shouldn't be this hard.

2 Are your other libraries displaying & behaving correctly? In WMP & in Windows explorer Navigation bar?

3 Is there anything else wrong on the PC?

4 Is WMP retaining the settings you put in at WMP, Organise, Manage libraries, Music?

5 Are the library folders listed correctly at

5.1 HKEY_USERS\YourUserAccount\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

and

5.2 HKEY_USERS\YourUserAccount\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

6 The only other fix that I have heard of is this[I have not tried it as I've not had to]. It is a WMP11 fix that is said to apply to WMP12 as well - You cannot view, add, or delete items in the library in Windows Media Player 11. The suggested procedure is:

6.1 Delete the WMP library database to force a complete rebuild - Close WMP, in the Start menu search box type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player In the Windows explorer window that appears delete all the files [but not sub-folders].

and if that doesn't work then go a step further

6.2 [similar to but not quite the same as 6.2] Delete the WMP database cache - Close WMP, in the Start menu search box type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player In the Windows explorer window that appears, select the Media Player folder in the left-hand pane & delete it together with its sub-folders.

Answer 3

OK. I'm making progress.

Here are the steps that I have done.

WMP -> Tools Menu -> Advanced -> Restore media library...
Explorer -> Libraries -> Context Menu (Right Click) for each library -> Restore Defaults
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Indexing Settings. Make sure all folders for all libraries are marked to be indexed. Let Windows build index while computer is idle.
If libraries in WMP still don't show media, then WMP -> Tools Menu -> Advanced -> Restore deleted items...
If libraries in WMP still don't show files, select a library in the WMP Navigation Panel (the library, not any folders or items in the library) drag media files into the WMP Main Panel. It doesn't seem to matter which library is selected in the Navigation Panel, as long as one of the (local) libraries is selected.
Do NOT drag folders into the library, only media files. Dragging folders will add those folders to the ones that are supposed to be automatically added to the library, but this does not force WMP to add the files in those folders.

On my user account, this seems to build the library for the files I drag and drop into WMP (but only if the Windows indexing is already done).

If I figure out how to get it build automatically (like it does for other users on my PC), then I'll post the working methods here.

Answer 4

To force WMP to rediscover its library folder contents [your items 1 & 2 combined] go to the Tools menu [alt t] & select Restore media library.

Unfortunately, this erased my libraries (the little content that was showing in them), and hours later on an idle computer, the libraries are still empty.

I have figured out that specifically in Windows 7, the Windows "Indexing Options" are related to the libraries, so I let Windows rebuild the entire index, but the libraries are still blank.

Sometimes I can drag media files into the appropriate libraries and it will add the media. But not all of the time. And I believe it's supposed to build the media libraries based on files that are already in your media folders (and you shouldn't have to drag and drop files in those folders into Media Player.

It shouldn't be this hard...

Answer 5

Anonymous

To force WMP to rediscover its library folder contents [your items 1 & 2 combined] go to the Tools menu [alt t] & select Restore media library.

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Libraries (Music/Videos/Pictures/etc.) are not populating in Windows Media Player (WMP) and Windows Media Center (WMC). How do I fix this user-specific problem?

5 answers