Vista - Windows Media Player Has Stopped Working ..pop up...

Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says "Windows
Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for a
solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not even
running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the problem
and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either embedded
in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will play
other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week ago I had
no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be appreciated.

I also want to point out that Windows Media Player never really stops
working, just that window pops up sometimes when I dont even use it. Its just
weird. And I dont get why all of a sudden I cant play .wmv files. I could at
first after I upgraded to Vista.

I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like to
listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open at all.
When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have to go
back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?

Rosey in Tucson

"bucfan" wrote:

> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says "Windows
> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for a
> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not even
> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the problem
> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either embedded
> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will play
> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week ago I had
> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be appreciated.

Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much all
audio and video formats.


"Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1B66F9FB-AEA8-4C72-93E2-5361C653E4CB@microsoft.com...
>I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like to
> listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open at
> all.
> When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have to go
> back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?
>
> Rosey in Tucson
>
> "bucfan" wrote:
>
>> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says "Windows
>> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for a
>> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not even
>> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the
>> problem
>> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either
>> embedded
>> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will play
>> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week ago I
>> had
>> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be
>> appreciated.

Thanks for the suggestion but I found several posts indicating problems with
the Vista codec package and decided it was too technical for me. I tried a
shut down and found that WMP ran after the reboot. I was able to run a
couple of Public Radio stations and add them to a playlist in WMP. Now I
just have to worry if it has grabbed anything that should be played by Media
Center.

Rosey in Tucson

"Jeff" wrote:

> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much all
> audio and video formats.
>

You did the smart thing. You shouldn't need CODEC packages. I am able to
listen to Internet radio just fine with what installs with Vista. Besides,
your initial post was that WMP wouldn't start at all, not that you couldn't
play some specific file type.

Dale

"Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0CB0B0E9-CDD1-4396-B2D9-0125FCF20400@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the suggestion but I found several posts indicating problems
> with
> the Vista codec package and decided it was too technical for me. I tried
> a
> shut down and found that WMP ran after the reboot. I was able to run a
> couple of Public Radio stations and add them to a playlist in WMP. Now I
> just have to worry if it has grabbed anything that should be played by
> Media
> Center.
>
> Rosey in Tucson
>
> "Jeff" wrote:
>
>> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much
>> all
>> audio and video formats.
>>
>

This didnt work for me. I did install the package, though I received several
errors but in the end it says it was successful. I just dont think it
installed every codec. I still can not play .WMV files in media player itself
or through a web page. This makes no sense, seeing how I could do this a week
ago and I have not installed anything new since then or made any changes to
my system. Any other ideas? How about uninstalling windows media player 11 or
repairing it which seems impossible in Vista?! Any way to do this and do you
think it would help?

"Jeff" wrote:

> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much all
> audio and video formats.
>
>
> "Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1B66F9FB-AEA8-4C72-93E2-5361C653E4CB@microsoft.com...
> >I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like to
> > listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open at
> > all.
> > When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have to go
> > back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?
> >
> > Rosey in Tucson
> >
> > "bucfan" wrote:
> >
> >> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says "Windows
> >> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for a
> >> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not even
> >> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the
> >> problem
> >> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either
> >> embedded
> >> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will play
> >> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week ago I
> >> had
> >> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be
> >> appreciated.
>

Hi, I've also had this wmp issue as well, and it is on a fresh installation.
I've also had the issue whereby wmp keeps playing sound despite having shut
it down, if you go to task manager you find it is still running as a
process. I think this is a bug some where within wmp...
ChrisC
"bucfan" <bucfan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:197D8197-532E-4868-A284-0986D1E99D5A@microsoft.com...
> This didnt work for me. I did install the package, though I received
> several
> errors but in the end it says it was successful. I just dont think it
> installed every codec. I still can not play .WMV files in media player
> itself
> or through a web page. This makes no sense, seeing how I could do this a
> week
> ago and I have not installed anything new since then or made any changes
> to
> my system. Any other ideas? How about uninstalling windows media player 11
> or
> repairing it which seems impossible in Vista?! Any way to do this and do
> you
> think it would help?
>
> "Jeff" wrote:
>
>> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much
>> all
>> audio and video formats.
>>
>>
>> "Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1B66F9FB-AEA8-4C72-93E2-5361C653E4CB@microsoft.com...
>> >I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like to
>> > listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open
>> > at
>> > all.
>> > When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have to
>> > go
>> > back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?
>> >
>> > Rosey in Tucson
>> >
>> > "bucfan" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says
>> >> "Windows
>> >> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for a
>> >> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not
>> >> even
>> >> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the
>> >> problem
>> >> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either
>> >> embedded
>> >> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will
>> >> play
>> >> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week
>> >> ago I
>> >> had
>> >> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be
>> >> appreciated.
>>

This should mean that either:
* an application or service is still using WMP; or
* a device driver will not shut down properly.

In the first case, you would want to check what else is running. In the
second case, you would want to update your device drivers (video and audio
card drivers are the most suspect).

--
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.
--

"Chris" <cuke2u@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1A5B9FBE-F340-429F-9C79-2A0B705E1A30@microsoft.com...
> Hi, I've also had this wmp issue as well, and it is on a fresh
> installation. I've also had the issue whereby wmp keeps playing sound
> despite having shut it down, if you go to task manager you find it is
> still running as a process. I think this is a bug some where within wmp...
> ChrisC
> "bucfan" <bucfan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:197D8197-532E-4868-A284-0986D1E99D5A@microsoft.com...
>> This didnt work for me. I did install the package, though I received
>> several
>> errors but in the end it says it was successful. I just dont think it
>> installed every codec. I still can not play .WMV files in media player
>> itself
>> or through a web page. This makes no sense, seeing how I could do this a
>> week
>> ago and I have not installed anything new since then or made any changes
>> to
>> my system. Any other ideas? How about uninstalling windows media player
>> 11 or
>> repairing it which seems impossible in Vista?! Any way to do this and do
>> you
>> think it would help?
>>
>> "Jeff" wrote:
>>
>>> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much
>>> all
>>> audio and video formats.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:1B66F9FB-AEA8-4C72-93E2-5361C653E4CB@microsoft.com...
>>> >I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like to
>>> > listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open
>>> > at
>>> > all.
>>> > When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have to
>>> > go
>>> > back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?
>>> >
>>> > Rosey in Tucson
>>> >
>>> > "bucfan" wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says
>>> >> "Windows
>>> >> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for
>>> >> a
>>> >> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not
>>> >> even
>>> >> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the
>>> >> problem
>>> >> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either
>>> >> embedded
>>> >> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will
>>> >> play
>>> >> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week
>>> >> ago I
>>> >> had
>>> >> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be
>>> >> appreciated.
>>>
>

Usually this is a Windows Mobile or Plays For Sure device still attached
that won't allow WMP to shut down all the way

"zachd [MSFT]" <zachd@nomailplz.online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:%23vfFseVWHHA.4872@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> This should mean that either:
> * an application or service is still using WMP; or
> * a device driver will not shut down properly.
>
> In the first case, you would want to check what else is running. In the
> second case, you would want to update your device drivers (video and audio
> card drivers are the most suspect).
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
> "Chris" <cuke2u@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1A5B9FBE-F340-429F-9C79-2A0B705E1A30@microsoft.com...
>> Hi, I've also had this wmp issue as well, and it is on a fresh
>> installation. I've also had the issue whereby wmp keeps playing sound
>> despite having shut it down, if you go to task manager you find it is
>> still running as a process. I think this is a bug some where within
>> wmp...
>> ChrisC
>> "bucfan" <bucfan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:197D8197-532E-4868-A284-0986D1E99D5A@microsoft.com...
>>> This didnt work for me. I did install the package, though I received
>>> several
>>> errors but in the end it says it was successful. I just dont think it
>>> installed every codec. I still can not play .WMV files in media player
>>> itself
>>> or through a web page. This makes no sense, seeing how I could do this a
>>> week
>>> ago and I have not installed anything new since then or made any changes
>>> to
>>> my system. Any other ideas? How about uninstalling windows media player
>>> 11 or
>>> repairing it which seems impossible in Vista?! Any way to do this and do
>>> you
>>> think it would help?
>>>
>>> "Jeff" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Google for "Vista codec package" and install it. It covers pretty much
>>>> all
>>>> audio and video formats.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Rosedith" <Rosedith@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:1B66F9FB-AEA8-4C72-93E2-5361C653E4CB@microsoft.com...
>>>> >I can't get Media Player to open at all for ANY audio files. I like
>>>> >to
>>>> > listne to Internet Radio but on my new Vista machine, they won't open
>>>> > at
>>>> > all.
>>>> > When I click on Media Player exe, nothing happens. Ack. do I have
>>>> > to go
>>>> > back to my old Mac to liste to audio files?
>>>> >
>>>> > Rosey in Tucson
>>>> >
>>>> > "bucfan" wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Several times a day just randomly I get a pop up that that says
>>>> >> "Windows
>>>> >> Media Player Has Stopped Working " and then it says it can check for
>>>> >> a
>>>> >> solution or close the program. First off, this happens when I am not
>>>> >> even
>>>> >> running windows media players. Its just random. What could be the
>>>> >> problem
>>>> >> and why is it that all of a sudden I can not play .WMV files either
>>>> >> embedded
>>>> >> in web pages or downloaded to my computer? Windows Media Player will
>>>> >> play
>>>> >> other types of movie files but not the one it is suppose to. A week
>>>> >> ago I
>>>> >> had
>>>> >> no problems. Now this happens out of no where. Any help would be
>>>> >> appreciated.
>>>>
>>
>
>