"windows media player network sharing service stopped working and was closed"

I also have a network sharing service problem -

Vista displays, occasion (and I havent worked out WHAT occasions yet):

"windows media player network sharing service stopped working and was closed" - followed by some bulls£$t about windows informing me of a solution when it becomes available

This pop up appears relentlessly - about once every 30 seconds, and i can see the system performance hitting 100% CPU for 5 seconds or so each time it does.


I did what is suggested on here - ie disable the service - and it STILL comes up with the eror. Any ideas????

As an addendum - I think this happens when I'm doing any type of install - e.g. windows update, service pack, etc

Did you ever find a solution? I am having the same issue.

I too am having this issue, at every startup

and Windows media player can't play any advanced codecs (like Divx), it crashes it

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

mlomenzo said:

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

Click to expand...

This worked for me! Thank-you very much!

Just randomly looking for a solution for my problem (this same error) and your solution worked. Had to sign up for an account, to say thank you! Definitely wouldn't have found this solution on microsoft's website. So, thanks alot!

Mine was working fine (would occasionally have this type of crash, but the service would restart itself immediately) well i just today swapped out my motherboard for an upgrade.. and after reinstalling mobo drivers and such, tried to watch a video from my Xbox 360, and started getting this error.

Don't know why something like this would be causing a constant crash, but thanks for sharing your knowledge, and so far that fix has worked like a charm.

-Runey

mlomenzo said:

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

Click to expand...

I had the same problem, and this solution worked for me too.

Thank you, i never would have found it yself.

my folder heirarchy seems to be a little different.... the DRM folder is in the "Microsoft" sub-folder - and there is no DRM folder in the "Windows" subfolderDo you think this will still work for me? There doesn't seem to be anything in this "DRM" Folder even when the show files is selected.

mlomenzo said:

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

Click to expand...

Me too ... I had to register to thank you, thanks a lot.

I got this error tonight after reboot upon upgrading an AMD PhenomX4 9600 B3 to a Phenom II 920 and my power supply.

The solution here fixed my issue as well. Found this forum just a few weeks back, come here first for any issue I am unable to work through myself. Kudos to Vista64.com!

I just want to say thanks for the tip. Worked for me!
I was upgrading a motherboard and cpu (Asus P5AD2 Premium + Pentium 4 650 -> Asus P6T Deluxe + Core i7 920), and upgrade went fine, except for this. I run a Linksys 2100 extender, which obviously was having problems as well. I must say, I had problems 'seing' the files in Explorer, even after turning off all th filters. I tend to prefer ZTreeWin File Manager (XTree compatible) for all that stuff. Quicker, faster, better!

Again, thanks for the tip..I would never have found it myself!

mlomenzo said:

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

Click to expand...

Molto grazie! Many thanks, for helping me get rid of this pesky problem that Microsoft seems to know nothing about. Getting rid of the DRM files solved the problem.

Bless you! I've registered just so I can say thanks.

I have been struggling with this for weeks - my BBC Iplayer & Channel 4OD haven't been working and loads of emails to their help desks have achieved precisely nothing. But this seems to have solved my problem in seconds! I deleted everything except the Cache folder and everything seems fine so far.

Thanks so much.

Dibags said:

Bless you! I've registered just so I can say thanks.

I have been struggling with this for weeks - my BBC Iplayer & Channel 4OD haven't been working and loads of emails to their help desks have achieved precisely nothing. But this seems to have solved my problem in seconds! I deleted everything except the Cache folder and everything seems fine so far.

Thanks so much.

Click to expand...

what ive found with BBC iPlayer and my sky player is that the kservice.exe suddenly stops, so for future reference, its the kontiki service being halted by DRM, for some reason or so, just re-enable the service and all should be good.

How do I do that? (Sorry if I'm being thick!)

quite easily, just type services.msc in the start menu search and hit enter, continue the UAC prompt and this will open up the "microsoft management console", scroll down the list until you get to k and you will see kservice as illustrated in the image below, it will say started which is all good, but if BBC iPlayer refuses to open, then you need to go there and start the kservice, just right click it and start, if its not set to automatic then you need to do that or you will have to start the service everytime you start windows.

If your using vista, you may also try :
Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM
right click on that folder , and try "Restoring Previous Versions" feature

Worked for me. I found this out using mlomenzos' instructions ... so many thanks to him.
I also ran into this problem immediately after upgrading my cpu to a AMD x4 940.
Upgrading a CPU seems to be a reoccurring issue on this particular thread.

Thanks you, you're my hero

mlomenzo said:

Got it... it is a DRM issue.
1) Go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DRM.
2) Go to tools\Folder Options
3) Select the View Tab
4) select Show Hidden Files and Folders
5) Uncheck the box that says "Hide Protected Operating system files"
Click apply and OK
Refresh the view and you should see files in the DRM folde.
Move the files to the recycle bin
Now enable sharing in Media player
your problem should be resolved.

Click to expand...

Due to the fact that a lot of people are having issues with WMP 11 Media Sharing, I have decided to write a blog post on five 'known to work' solutions.

These five solutions are (in a nutshell):
1. Clearing the Media library
2. Fixing DRM issues that cripple WMP 11 Media Sharing
3. Firewall issues
4. Activating windows services WMP 11 Media Sharing depends on
5. Activating the 'Cryptographic Services' service as an undocumented service WMP 11 Media Sharing depends on

More specific info about these solution can be found on:
Think# Knowledge Blog - Windows Media Player (WMP) 11 Media Sharing doesn't work / stopped working!

I hope this will help people having issues with Media Sharing in the future.

Sincerely,

Geoff