Microsoft Media Player has disappeared and I am unable to reinstall

Question

It disappeared a while back when Currys/PC World put my laptop back to factory settings and I have followed the advice in one of the threads and information isn't there

Hello Dollar1973,

To expand on Andre's post, I would uninstall and then reinstall Windows Media Player.

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".
2. Click on "Turn Windows features On or Off".
3. Browse to the Media Features and uncheck the mark in front of Windows Media Player.
4. 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".
2. Click on "Turn Windows features On or Off".
3. Browse to the Media Features and place a check mark in front of Windows Media Player.
4. Restart the Computer.

If you are having trouble using Windows Media Player, try using the troubleshooter to see if that fixes

the problem.

Open the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter by clicking theStart button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, typetroubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. ClickView all, and then click Windows Media Player Settings.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,  

---

Marilyn

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Answer 1

Hello AlisonBurton,

I'm John an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you. I'll be happy to assist you today. I understand you want to reinstall Windows Media Player. What is your current Windows version and edition? Press Start then click Settings(Gear icon), select System then About.

Kindly try the method below

Please try checking Windows Media Player at this location

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player

Find and run wmplayer.exe

If this does not work, Press Start then search 'Manage optional features'

Click Add a feature

Select Windows Media Player then click Install

Please try opening Windows Media Player

Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

Sincerely,

John DeV

Independent Advisor

Answer 2

Hi John,  thanks for your reply and assistance.  I am using windows 10, version 2004

I realised when doing 1. Below that I am having a problem as a user and not as the administrator. 

So I logged in to the administrator & followed the instructions.  I did 1. Run wmplayer.exe and I appear to have the application.  But when I did 2. Below, search ‘mange optional features’ there was nothing there for windows media player.

I then went & logged in as a user and windows media player wont open?

Thanks,

Alison

Answer 3

Hello AlisonBurton,

Thank you for updating me with that information. It simply means that Windows Media Player is already installed on your system.

Please try creating a new user account then check if the issue still persists.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cre...

If this does not work, Please try reinstalling Windows Media Player

Press Start then search 'Manage optional features'

Find Windows Media Player in the list then click Uninstall

Restart your PC

After that, open 'Manage optional features' again

Click Add a feature

Select Windows Media Player then click Install

Please try opening Windows Media Player

Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

Sincerely,

John DeV

Independent Advisor