Vista - Windows Media Player won't start

I have recently upgraded to Vista Home Premium. For some reason, it now
seems to be pot luck whether whether Windows Media Player will start or not.
When it refuses to start I have tried everything down to double-clicking the
wmplayer .exe file. Not a flicker and no error messages are displayed. When
it does start I have full functionality until again, it refuses. I have
tried after cold and hot restarts but there are no set of circumstances that
guarantee a working application.

Anyone any ideas please??

Thanks,

Steve

On Mon, 9 Jul 2007 20:08:24 +0100, "Steve Paddock"
<steve.paddock@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

>I have recently upgraded to Vista Home Premium. For some reason, it now
>seems to be pot luck whether whether Windows Media Player will start or not.
>When it refuses to start I have tried everything down to double-clicking the
>wmplayer .exe file. Not a flicker and no error messages are displayed. When
>it does start I have full functionality until again, it refuses. I have
>tried after cold and hot restarts but there are no set of circumstances that
>guarantee a working application.
>
>Anyone any ideas please??
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steve


A quick fix is simply download and install a better player. GOM Player
is free, works fine in Vista and has way more features then Media
Player. Unlike Media Player if you are missing a codec it actually
takes you to a web site that has what you need (most of the time) and
lets you download it. Imagine that!

My opinion, it is by far the best player for playing all kinds of
videos. You can't beat the price... free. To access it's menu system,
just click on GOM at the top left of it's window and you're presented
with a huge assortment of controls for fine tuning playback.

When this happens, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to start Task Manager, select the
Processes tab and you'll find the wmplayer.exe process is already running
(although it doesn't appear on the Applications tab). Select it and choose
End Process.

I've no idea why, but some bug in Vista causes wmplayer to start whenever
the PC is restarted or brought out of sleep, but without its window showing.
You can't run two instances of wmplayer, and as Vista assumes you're trying
to run a second instance when you click Windows Media Player, it silently
ignores you.

I have the exact same problem wmplayer.exe is in memory running as a process
click on any file audio or video nothing happens.

When you close the process and click on a file they run as normal. I
believe wmplayer.exe is in memory for part of the superfetch feature which
makes apps open quicker but keeping them in memory. I don’t mind this
because I have 4Gigs of Ram but all I want is the WMP to run the files.

I download windows media classic with K-lite and it plays them one click but
it disables the aero glass.

I am hope someone will know how to resolve this problem.


"Rob" wrote:

> When this happens, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to start Task Manager, select the
> Processes tab and you'll find the wmplayer.exe process is already running
> (although it doesn't appear on the Applications tab). Select it and choose
> End Process.
>
> I've no idea why, but some bug in Vista causes wmplayer to start whenever
> the PC is restarted or brought out of sleep, but without its window showing.
> You can't run two instances of wmplayer, and as Vista assumes you're trying
> to run a second instance when you click Windows Media Player, it silently
> ignores you.
>
>

GOM Player does not disable Aero Glass and is a terrific media player.

--
I Bleed Blue and Gold
GO BEARS!


"Brother Derrick" <BrotherDerrick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3E5F1620-ED54-4432-9E5D-65D320BB5ABF@microsoft.com...
>I have the exact same problem wmplayer.exe is in memory running as a process
> click on any file audio or video nothing happens.
>
> When you close the process and click on a file they run as normal. I
> believe wmplayer.exe is in memory for part of the superfetch feature which
> makes apps open quicker but keeping them in memory. I don't mind this
> because I have 4Gigs of Ram but all I want is the WMP to run the files.
>
> I download windows media classic with K-lite and it plays them one click but
> it disables the aero glass.
>
> I am hope someone will know how to resolve this problem.
>
>
> "Rob" wrote:
>
>> When this happens, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to start Task Manager, select the
>> Processes tab and you'll find the wmplayer.exe process is already running
>> (although it doesn't appear on the Applications tab). Select it and choose
>> End Process.
>>
>> I've no idea why, but some bug in Vista causes wmplayer to start whenever
>> the PC is restarted or brought out of sleep, but without its window showing.
>> You can't run two instances of wmplayer, and as Vista assumes you're trying
>> to run a second instance when you click Windows Media Player, it silently
>> ignores you.
>>
>>

Yep, exact same problem here. And it's bizarre. The hidden instance
actually still plays media - i.e. if I play an MP3 file, it plays - just no
user interface. Same for a movie - but not user interface - not much good
for watching a movie.

And I have done the same thing to resolve - kill wmplayer, restart, and it
works

I am going to check some ideas at home after work, but do you have iTunes
and an iPod? Was it plugged in? What happens if it is not plugged in at the
time you reboot or come out of sleep? Here's my hunch - WMP is starting in
order that it can manage the iPod, but not much point in that because iTunes
will do that for you.

"Rob" wrote:

> When this happens, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to start Task Manager, select the
> Processes tab and you'll find the wmplayer.exe process is already running
> (although it doesn't appear on the Applications tab). Select it and choose
> End Process.
>
> I've no idea why, but some bug in Vista causes wmplayer to start whenever
> the PC is restarted or brought out of sleep, but without its window showing.
> You can't run two instances of wmplayer, and as Vista assumes you're trying
> to run a second instance when you click Windows Media Player, it silently
> ignores you.
>
>

Try this solution

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925704/en-us

PJ


"Sean Anderson" <SeanAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8BF89911-5C39-4F0A-A886-0E806838CF32@microsoft.com...
> Yep, exact same problem here. And it's bizarre. The hidden instance
> actually still plays media - i.e. if I play an MP3 file, it plays - just
> no
> user interface. Same for a movie - but not user interface - not much good
> for watching a movie.
>
> And I have done the same thing to resolve - kill wmplayer, restart, and it
> works
>
> I am going to check some ideas at home after work, but do you have iTunes
> and an iPod? Was it plugged in? What happens if it is not plugged in at
> the
> time you reboot or come out of sleep? Here's my hunch - WMP is starting
> in
> order that it can manage the iPod, but not much point in that because
> iTunes
> will do that for you.
>
> "Rob" wrote:
>
>> When this happens, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to start Task Manager, select the
>> Processes tab and you'll find the wmplayer.exe process is already running
>> (although it doesn't appear on the Applications tab). Select it and
>> choose
>> End Process.
>>
>> I've no idea why, but some bug in Vista causes wmplayer to start whenever
>> the PC is restarted or brought out of sleep, but without its window
>> showing.
>> You can't run two instances of wmplayer, and as Vista assumes you're
>> trying
>> to run a second instance when you click Windows Media Player, it silently
>> ignores you.
>>
>>

Thanks for the reply. I tried that, but I can still replicate the problem of
wmplayer starting automagically, and because that instance is running with no
interface, if you need to see one (say to play a movie), I have to kill that
instance so that a fresh one can start.

This sounds like something isn't letting WMP shut down properly - you would
definitely want to check for driver updates for your audio and video card.
Any time it refuses to shut down, as Rob mentioned, wmplayer.exe should
likely be listed in the Processes tab of Task Manager.

In theory you may be getting crash or hang information about this in your
Problem Reports and Solutions center- that data may have additional useful
information.

--
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.
--

"Steve Paddock" <steve.paddock@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:FE50134C-4317-4522-B1FE-AACC6E6F2926@microsoft.com...
>I have recently upgraded to Vista Home Premium. For some reason, it now
>seems to be pot luck whether whether Windows Media Player will start or
>not. When it refuses to start I have tried everything down to
>double-clicking the wmplayer .exe file. Not a flicker and no error messages
>are displayed. When it does start I have full functionality until again, it
>refuses. I have tried after cold and hot restarts but there are no set of
>circumstances that guarantee a working application.
>
> Anyone any ideas please??
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve

Are you using some service/other application/utility that might be
using/remoting WMP and thus keeping it open... ?

--
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.
--

"Sean Anderson" <SeanAnderson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1D952256-E58C-4945-A59E-CB2F2DBD2B5F@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the reply. I tried that, but I can still replicate the problem
> of
> wmplayer starting automagically, and because that instance is running with
> no
> interface, if you need to see one (say to play a movie), I have to kill
> that
> instance so that a fresh one can start.