I have spent hours researching this on the web but have yet to find the final solution / codec source.

Someone...please help.

I have installed iTunes and I can play my file just fine...but I want to fix the problem with WMP anyway.



I ran GSpot270 and I cannot really interpret the results any more than the file plays / test-out just fine.

So...GSpot270 says everything is good but WMP won't play the file and the codec Vista says is missing is nowhere to be found on the internet (so far anyway) as a stand-alone download (codec packages are available...this is the extent of HP support's support...but they did nothing, so I uninstalled them for fear of the corruption I have read about).

Any advice greatly appreciated.

It is an audio file...a plain old mp3. The funny thing is all other mp3 files play fine...so do videos.

Why is it that WMP thinks it is an mp1...or at least needs a MP1 codec to play it?

Here is another thing. You know those ghosted-out words that show the loading and processing process of files when you open them in WMP (in the lower left corner). Well, right before I get the message saying the codec is missing, guess what appears in that corner..."codec acquired".

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Yes...works fine with iTunes. I honestly don't know why I am spending so much time on this...I just want to fix the problem.

I found this fix on another thread, posted by brady lee, but it did not work for me.

On Vista-
Go to Computer
C:
Windows
System32
Look for a file called l3codecp.acm (you'll probably find l3codeca.acm which is why you're having the error)
If you find l3codeca.acm continue on........
Close out of that
Go to start
Run
Type regedit
Click the arrow next to Hkey_Local_machine
Then click the arrow next to Software
Arrow next to Microsoft
Arrow next to Windows NT
Arrow next to Current Version
Then highlight or click once on the name Drivers32
On the list to the right it will say msacm.l3acm then to the right of that under "Data" it should read C:\Windows\System32\l3codecp.acm(will probably say l3codeca.acm)
If it reads l3codeca.acm you need to right click on msacm.l3acm and click MODIFY

Once in there, leave the data that's already there, just find the spot where it says
l3codeca.acm and replace it with l3codecp.acm- (you're only changing one letter the A after codec to a P) click ok restart your computer and it WILL work!! It sounds complicated but if you follow everything I say, it will work like a charm and you won't have the problem again. If you know of anyone else having the same problem direct them to this and have them run through it.

The funny thing is, at the final step the data for the entry "...l3codecp.acm" was suspiciously empty. I will try to add the same data file and see what happens.

Excellent. I will try that.

Well my improvised fix did nothing. Would you recommend I go back into the registry and undo my changes?

You backed up your registry before working on it I hope.
For my missing codecs I used the cole2k media pack and it solved all my missing codecs including FLAC everything plays fine now.