Vista - Media Player playing files but not launching application window

I'm running a new install of Vista Ultimate and it seems that about 90% of
the time if I double-click on an audio file (such as a .WAV or .MP3)
wmplayer.exe launches and starts playing the file, however there is nothing
onscreen indicating that this is happening--which means the only way to stop
it is to open Task Manager and end the task, and there is no way to scan
through the track.

If I go to Start -> Run and run wmplayer, then close it, then for a short
time double-clicking on a file will open the Media Player window and play
the file, but if I try again later in the day or the next day I'm back at
square one.

Any ideas?

What specifically is working and what doesn't?
Does opening it by itself via the WMP shortcut lead to it locking up on
shutdown?
Does opening it with a video file lead to it locking up on shutdown?

What video card and audio card do you have on this system? WMP locking up
on shutdown is typically indicative of a driver that's not shutting down
properly - are there driver updates available for your devices?

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Joe Grover" <grover.joe@acd.net> wrote in message
news:eJCI%23X1hHHA.4076@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> I'm running a new install of Vista Ultimate and it seems that about 90% of
> the time if I double-click on an audio file (such as a .WAV or .MP3)
> wmplayer.exe launches and starts playing the file, however there is
> nothing onscreen indicating that this is happening--which means the only
> way to stop it is to open Task Manager and end the task, and there is no
> way to scan through the track.
>
> If I go to Start -> Run and run wmplayer, then close it, then for a short
> time double-clicking on a file will open the Media Player window and play
> the file, but if I try again later in the day or the next day I'm back at
> square one.
>
> Any ideas?