Windows Media Player Legacy has started to freeze then crash whenever I try to open a file.

So, I dug into reliability history in Control Panel and found that the issue with WMP Legacy seemed to coincide with the installation of .NET 6 framework. That would make sense as the .NET software is designed to help apps and programs integrate with Windows.

If I roll back the .NET framework to version 5 and it stops the problem, is there a way to hide that particular update? If so, for how long?

And might it be possible to interest the technicians in the issue if it does demonstrate some potential incompatibility with a feature that Windows 11 technically stills offers?

I noticed as well that there are even newer versions of .NET software that can be downloaded.  Could it be that a later version might resolve the issue or is it more likely that newer versions would include and build upon whatever changes caused the problem?

At any rate it seems like a worthwhile experiment. I will keep you posted.

And by way of explaining why I'm so attached to this old program (for you or anyone else reading this thread), I am including a couple of screenshots.

I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to your reply.

Thank you very much for your feedback and sharing. Yes, your software is no longer supported now, and Microsoft hopes that you will use new playback software. Method 5 If the test shows that it is indeed a problem caused by an update, I can give you a way to hide the update and report the problem.

I have not received any questions like yours in the community recently. I cannot reproduce your problem for the time being, and the error you gave cannot tell where the problem is.

I will try to consult the relevant technicians to see what they think.

I look forward to your feedback.

Best Regards,

Aaron

Thank you so much for your response.

To be clear the issue is with the Windows Media Player Legacy app. This is an updated version of Windows Media Player 12 that is included with Windows 11 and installed through Optional Features: wmplayer.exe

I actually use three media players on my system:

Windows Media Player Legacy, wmplayer.exe is the default for most music and audio files.

Windows Media Player app Microsoft.Media.Player.exe is the default for most video files

In addition, I use a program called WMP Classic or Windows Media Player Classic (a third-party app discontinued in 2017 but now updated as an open-source app) as the default for simple audio files like .ogg or wave files when which I like to open without all the bells and whistles of mp3s as well as for DVDs and .mov files.

It all works great except for the Windows Media Player Legacy (wmplayer.exe) issue that arose a few weeks ago.

The troubleshooting wizard you suggested was indeed intended for this program, but it did not solve the issue.

The issue persisted after a clean boot as well, so it appears to be a problem limited to the app and Windows 11.

SFC scan on my system found no issues and the online ScanHealth similarly found no issues.

Here are the details of my most recent test trying to get the program to open normally when double-clicking on an mp3 file:

Source

Windows Media Player

Summary

Stopped responding and was closed

Date

‎6/‎9/‎2024 4:33 PM

Status

Report sent

Description

A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Faulting Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: AppHangB1

Application Name: wmplayer.exe

Application Version: 12.0.22621.2506

Application Timestamp: 54d1aca2

Hang Signature: eb07

Hang Type: 134217728

OS Version: 10.0.22631.2.0.0.256.48

Locale ID: 1033

Additional Hang Signature 1: eb074bb30671c007bcca63e62f0317f2

Additional Hang Signature 2: 310b

Additional Hang Signature 3: 310bcaa251dc59bc938964190fb9528c

Additional Hang Signature 4: eb07

Additional Hang Signature 5: eb074bb30671c007bcca63e62f0317f2

Additional Hang Signature 6: 310b

Additional Hang Signature 7: 310bcaa251dc59bc938964190fb9528c

Extra information about the problem

Bucket ID: fcdcd691c4bb7b0de399830015e354ce (1412303994547819726)

Does this not give any clue?

I haven't tried suggestion 5 and am hesitant to. It seems entirely probable that something has indeed recently changed in Windows 11 architecture that it no longer recognizes a call to open the program. But what would the value be of rolling back a system update other than for diagnostic purposes?

As I understand it, it is only possible to reverse and pause updates on Windows 11 for a limited time. Even if that solved the problem I could not, nor would I want to for many reasons, freeze updates on my system. The update would inevitably be applied to my system and break the program once more. Correct?

If that is the case my only hope is that the engineers at Microsoft would notice or care. 

I'm not sure how many other people are experiencing the same issue. Even if the problem is widespread, based on past experience with Microsoft, they may have simply decided that they want people to move on to newer apps and may be unwilling to devote any resources to fixing the problem in a future update.

What are your thoughts? And of course, if you or anybody else has an idea how to fix this I would very much appreciate hearing from you.

Hello, Christopher-V

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

I understand that you are having problems with your media player, please don't worry as I will try to help you as much as I can.

Are you using Windows Media Player (older version) or a newer music application?

Here are some troubleshooting options:

1. In Start > Run, type msdt.exe -id WindowsMediaPlayerConfigurationDiagnostic

and press Enter to open the Troubleshooting Wizard which will help you reset WMP to its default settings.

2. Clean boot

Press Windos+R and type :

msconfig

Click on “Services” above and check the “Hide all Microsoft services” box below. Be sure to check this box, otherwise disabling some Microsoft services may cause serious problems such as failure to boot. Click “Disable All”. Click “Startup” at the top, click “Open Task Manager”, click “Startup” at the top of the Task Manager (Working Administrator), right click on each of them. Right-click on each item whose “Status” is “Started” and select “Disable”.

After booting, open Task Manager and make sure there are no non-Microsoft processes. Run only this one program and see if it returns to normal. 

If it is normal, you can open the disabled services, daily use software, etc. one by one to see if it is caused by a certain abnormality.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support 

Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem.  

These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get you back on track. 

3. Search for CMD in the search bar, select Run as Administrator, and run the following commands in order:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth 

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth 

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth 

SFC /Scannow 

4. You can also refer to the method in the following link to test and see if the problem symptoms continue to exist.

Troubleshoot Windows Media Player Errors - Microsoft Support

5. Have you performed any system updates recently? You can try uninstalling the recent updates to see if the problem continues.

Select Start > Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates

How to uninstall a Windows update - Microsoft Support

I look forward to your feedback, which will help me pinpoint your problem.

Best Regards,

Aaron| Microsoft Community Support Specialist