HAL 9000
Honorary Master
- Joined
- May 27, 2008
- Messages
- 21,430
- Reaction score
- 24,842
After having one of the Windows Updates earlier in this year kill off Windows Media Player in Windows 8.1 (pre-Update 1, which will not install here for some unknown reason), which resulted in me reverting back to MediaMonkey, I tried every solution on the internet forums to try and get WMP to work again, to no avail.
I ran all the Windows WMP Troubleshooters, and even removing it completely and then re-installing it did not help either.
I gave up hope of ever resuscitating it, until today when I had a 'light-bulb' moment!
Checking the properties of the Start Menu & Taskbar Shortcuts for WMP (I use Classic Shell), I noticed that they both pointed to the 'C:\Program Files(x86)' folder, even though I am using Windows 8.1 Professional (x64-bit).
Opening that folder, I tried double-clicking the WMP.exe file, which, as expected, did nothing at all.
I then decided to see if there was also a folder for WMP in the 'C:\Program Files' folder (for x64 programs), and to my surprise, found one there as well.
I then double-clicked on the WMP.exe file there, and VOILA! - Windows Media Player started up, with no entries, and then proceeded to begin rebuilding my entire media library once again!
I have now edited my shortcut properties to point to this folder instead.
Now I am able to use WMP just as before to sync music to my media devices, and will also be checking to see if WMP remains stable and functional for the foreseeable future!
I ran all the Windows WMP Troubleshooters, and even removing it completely and then re-installing it did not help either.
I gave up hope of ever resuscitating it, until today when I had a 'light-bulb' moment!
Checking the properties of the Start Menu & Taskbar Shortcuts for WMP (I use Classic Shell), I noticed that they both pointed to the 'C:\Program Files(x86)' folder, even though I am using Windows 8.1 Professional (x64-bit).
Opening that folder, I tried double-clicking the WMP.exe file, which, as expected, did nothing at all.
I then decided to see if there was also a folder for WMP in the 'C:\Program Files' folder (for x64 programs), and to my surprise, found one there as well.
I then double-clicked on the WMP.exe file there, and VOILA! - Windows Media Player started up, with no entries, and then proceeded to begin rebuilding my entire media library once again!
I have now edited my shortcut properties to point to this folder instead.
Now I am able to use WMP just as before to sync music to my media devices, and will also be checking to see if WMP remains stable and functional for the foreseeable future!
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