Windows Media Player wont play files anymore

[GrandPhoenix]

Ok so... I wanted to try watching a few videos today so I tried opening them in Windows Media Player 11, the same way I do almost every day and I got this error message :

http://www.pmsclan.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=478&pictureid=3821

I tried opening a different video file and I got the same error. I tried following the "WEB HELP" (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/webhelp/default.aspx?&mpver=11.0.5721.5230&id=C00D11B1&contextid=71&originalid=80040154) link that it gives me and doing everything short of coaxing my computer with sweet, sweet pillowtalk to fix it, but nothing worked. I tried playing an .mp3 file to see if it was JUST videoes and to my joy, it wasn't ; music files don't work either!! Different formats (I've tried EVERY format associated with WMP11) got the same error message to no effect.

Finally, I figured I would just try iTunes/Quicktime and it worked. (I use iTunes for music and Windows Media Player for videos :mvshock:) My preference is to use Windows Media Player for videos though so I was hoping there would be someone out there who would know how to fix this pesky, pesky little problem... I've tried uninstalling WMP11, then restarting my computer and reinstalling. I've tried installing WMP10 and then version 9 and only failed... I went to system restore to an earlier date but it didn't show any changes to my computer that would have done this. The thing that really pisses me off is that I haven't even done anything different and now, all of a sudden, my computer decides it's not going to function the way it has every day prior this morning :mvsad:

[Nakashige H2O]

Use VLC Player its so much better

[H2O Bunnys]

Meh VLC is a good bet, as to your problem id suggest doing a full virus/trojan/spyware scan then clean up your computer get rid of junk files etc... personally ive never had this problem before but it sounds like a virus/trojan.

Suggestions:
scan using Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Super Anti-Spyware after that im sure you have some sort of junk file cleaner and registry cleaner.

But if you dont want to go through all that just download VLC Player.

[PHiNiX]

some video files dont play in windows media player. vlc is pretty good. but can crash at any moment "probably wont happen"

[GrandPhoenix]

well the problem is that some files wont play in iTunes and pretty much anything will play in WMP if you've got the right codec so rather than install something new, I'd rather fix something thats worked since day 1

[H2O Bunnys]

Again Phoenix it sounds like a virus/trojan might have messed with it, like i said above id run a spyware scan and anti-virus scan then just clean up your random junk files, if that doesnt work then id google the problem im sure others have had the same problem and it could be a registry error or something.

[GrandPhoenix]

ya I rarely, if ever, get viruses. Idk why *shrug* I download music, I torrent, I leave my firewalls off, I do everything but I guess I just know where to go and how to be careful. I haven't gotten a legit virus for over a year and a half now and, of course, I ran the virus + spyware scan and nothing came up but cookies.

[H2O Forester]

hmm thats wierd

[H2O Bunnys]

ya I rarely, if ever, get viruses. Idk why *shrug* I download music, I torrent, I leave my firewalls off, I do everything but I guess I just know where to go and how to be careful. I haven't gotten a legit virus for over a year and a half now and, of course, I ran the virus + spyware scan and nothing came up but cookies.

what type of anti-virus and spyware are you using because if its avg that doesnt always catch everything (and if its a trojan forget it that thing rarely catches um) believe me man i thought i was safe aswell, i never did anything that would get me any type of virus/trojan (or so i thought) but one day all the sudden my desktop was flickering (which means a problem with your explorer.exe file) after downloading super anti-spyware and regrun not only did i find out that i had mulitple trojans on my machine some that didnt even seem to do anything that would make me notice them but also quite afew registry files that were edited not by me nor any programs i used. And this happened last month, at the time i had anti-virus software but nothing really all that good. Just sayin that just because you think your safe you may not be.