Need to reinstall WMP without affecting WMC

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#21

Post by jachin99 » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:22 pm

There are a lot of people around the forums who know how to handle guide problems but its hard to be sure about what is wrong with your WMP. Resetting it is an easy fix. If you have guide issues, someone can probably easily walk you through them. When i remove WMC (I'm in the middle of my own problems) and reinstall it, I still have my guide, addons, etc. You could delete everything in your WMP folder, and run another sfc scan to see if it picks up the problem. Are all of the files throughout your PC symbolic links? Do any other files have those arrows?

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#22

Post by Mugsy » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:56 pm

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to try backing up my C: drive then removing both WMP & WMC, then adding them back to see if it fixes WMP and WMC keeps it's "TV Listings" settings. If not, I can just restore the Backup.

The only apps I'm finding with Symbolic Links are WMP, WMC ("C:\windows\ehome\") and Internet Explorer. Everything else has normal links (also, WMC & IE9 load/run fine, though every attempt to upgrade IE to 10 or 11 has failed... a known issue with Win7.)

I'll report back with my results. Thx.

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#23

Post by Crash2009 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:08 am

The WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service service entered the stopped state.
Have you checked that the services are enabled and running

https://computerstepbystep.com/windows_ ... rvice.html

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#24

Post by Mugsy » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:44 pm

Thx for the reply.

I checked the Service. It was set to "Manual" but "Started". I switched it to "Automatic" and rebooted, but it didn't help. :(

I backed up my C: drive, disabled my AV software, deactivated "WMP & WMC" via "Programs & Features", and rebooted. Once back in Windows, I checked to confirm they had been removed, disabled my AV again, and attempted to re-enabled WMP & WMC but it failed. I was prompted to reboot, and upon returning to Windows, both WMP/WMC were still unchecked and not working.

I restored my backup of C: to get WMC working again.

So WMP can't be reinstalled using "Programs & Features". It appears the only way to reinstall WMP12 would be via a standalone installer, and I can't find one (the last I have is WMP11 for XP.)

Any ideas? Thx.

cwinfield

Posts: 575
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:14 am
Location: Monroe, NC

HTPC Specs: Show details

#25

Post by cwinfield » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:56 pm

Try this https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downloa ... SxHsChFfw)()

Here is some other options, was unaware of the add features option. The powershell option is also worth a shot https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/951 ... -10-a.html

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#26

Post by Mugsy » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:29 pm

Thanks, but please note I'm using 64bit Win7 Home Pro, not Win10.

I had already tried that download from MS, but when run, it says "Wrong version of Windows". The Powershell instructions are for Win10 as well (and simply instruct you to do what I just tried.) :(

PS: The provided command at that link to Copy/Paste to the PowerShell does not appear to work (in Win7?), instead reporting: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1U-xE8 ... Ny9Ppt1Cmn

cwinfield

Posts: 575
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:14 am
Location: Monroe, NC

HTPC Specs: Show details

#27

Post by cwinfield » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:08 pm

Ah my bad. Looks like you can either try the WMP fix it utility http://www.thewindowsclub.com/repair-wi ... mp-utility or try a repair install of windows, the later your not likely to want to do because you'll lose your WMC settings.

found this from MDL https://www.mydigitallife.net/how-to-un ... windows-7/

This seems relevant "Tip: If for some reason the re-installation of WMP and WMC is not clean, once uninstalled, try go to %ProgramFiles% (and %ProgramFiles(x86)% for 64-bit OS) folder, and delete the Windows Media Player folder."

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#28

Post by Mugsy » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:52 pm

Thanks, though I tried that "fix" utility previously, but all it did was "re-register" the "40 DLL's associated with WMP12", which didn't resolve the problem.

The MDL link just describes what we just did, removing WMP/WMC from P&F.

I once tried to do a Repair from the Windows 7 CD long ago for another reason, but was told I couldn't. I forget exactly why. My personal OEM, pre-SP1 DVD told me my version of Windows was "too new" to repair using it. A copy of Win7 w/sp1 downloaded from MS also refused to work (though I can't remember why.)

I think my last option is to attempt to install old WMP11, though I'm not sure how that might affect WMC. :-/

Thx.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#29

Post by jachin99 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:02 pm

I can host my wmp files, and you can see if dropping them in the right directories works. If I understand correctly, you Program files\wmp folder has symbolic links that point to symbolic links in your windows SXS folder. What do you have against rebuilding the OS? If your brave, you could try deleting all of the files, then running sfc/scannow or some of the other fixes. You would need to delete the old files, then run a tool that tells windows something is broken. Hopefully pre-sp1 windows can still download files to fix itself.

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#30

Post by Mugsy » Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:32 am

Thx for the reply jachin,

I don't think I'm missing any files. Even though I'm seeing Symbolic Links, I'm pretty sure there are actual files somewhere at the destination (wherever that might be.)

My problem with "rebuilding the OS"... besides the fact I can't (I've tried) is that it not only resets the default programs and set WMC back to the old (non-working) TV Listings, it would also force me to reinstall and reconfigure every other app on my PC... and for what? Just to get WMP working? :P

I re-ran SFC and got a dozen errors related to "termserv.dll" and a message that it could not repair it:

"2018-04-12 21:23:36, Info CSI 000001a5 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\windows\System32"\[l:22{11}]"termsrv.dll"; source file in store is also corrupted"

but I don't think it's related to why WMP won't start. Thx.

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#31

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:41 am

Did it ever occur to you that may be the reason why you had so much trouble with the guide was because you're win 7 is all messed up to begin with.

My vote is to clean up the operating system also. Might as well get a new hard drive at the same time. Order up a 120 MB SSD.

Man up and get this over with.

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#32

Post by Mugsy » Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:20 pm

Thx for the reply Crash, but the *only* program causing me difficulty is WMP (IE not updating isn't a "corruption" issue. It's a well-documented problem that affects people who didn't update IE at the time of IE10/11's release.)

If the possibilities are "WMP is messed up" vs "all of Windows 7 is messed up", I think it is far more likely to be the former, not the later.

Short of reinstalling Win7 from scratch to a reformatted hard drive, how do you suggest I "clean up" Windows 7? I'm am already using a 120GB SSD as my boot drive.

Does "man up" entail spending hours reinstalling dozens of programs and reconfiguring every app (including getting WMC' working properly again... the very issue I posted this thread to avoid?) :/

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#33

Post by jachin99 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 6:40 pm

I can't believe I didn't think about this sooner but you could also try to install Music Browser. It lets you view music by folder structure rather than file tags (WMP/WMC Uses tag info). What exact task are you trying to accomplish with WMP? Have you tried downloading IE11, and installing it? I nuke Win 7 machines and start over quite often but I don't have too many problems with IE on a fresh install. I have had weird issues with IE in general on older installs but OS refresh fixed that. Honestly it sounds like you have problems with the machine anyway but its your gear so the choice is yours. Music browser might be a way around the problem.

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#34

Post by Mugsy » Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:14 pm

Thanks for the reply.

When it comes to Media Players, I already have several that work fine. But sometimes there always seems to be a program or website that "requires" WMP. :( Plus, I sometimes like the syncopated lightshow built into it when listening to mp3's. Like I said, I rarely use it, but sometimes it's needed.

Re: Internet Explorer being stuck at v9, I've downloaded both v10 & v11 standalone installers and have tried every trick imaginable to get them to install, but when prompted to reboot, the installation *always* fails and it reverts back to v9 (I even tried DELETING the entire contents of the "Internet Explorer" folder and copying into it the IE11 files from a PC running Windows 8.1. But running it created an error on launch, and trying to install IE11 on top of it actually put *v9* back (even though I had deleted the files.)

More info on Win7 users unable to upgrade to IE10/11 can be found here (and yes, I tried all the steps): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... er-2008-r2

(This link describes the problem as far back as 2013: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/internet- ... ot-install)

Other than WMP not working and IE not upgrading, everything works just fine. My computer is quite fast & well optimized (I'm a bit of a clean freak, which is why WMP not working bugs me), and a "reinstall" would be an enormous unnecessary headache I really have no interest (nor time) to pursue.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#35

Post by jachin99 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:52 pm

I can go ahead and guess that the win 8 IE probably didnt work because its most likely .net 4.0 on 8, and 3.5 on seven. WMC is the same way. If you want another try at that move, try transplanting it from Win 7. EIther way, if you can live without it then you can keep searching for a while. BTW I believe all of the files in Program files on Windows are actually just hard links, and the files themselves reside in WIndows SXS. That is another approach if you would like to keep trying. I'm not sure how those got turned into symbolic links or if this is just a misrepresented view inside windows file explorer itself. I know sometimes windows will show you a file type as being something other than its actual type but I cant remember the specifics.

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#36

Post by Mugsy » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:26 pm

That would seem like a good guess, but I checked (using an app) and my version of dotNet is 4.7.1.

XP was capped at 3.5.1

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#37

Post by jachin99 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:50 pm

Whatever tool you used probably told you the highest version. Win 7 comes out of the box with 3.5 and win 8 comes with 4.0. look under programs and features for .net versions. Anything higher or on either system requires a separate installation. Either 4.0 or 3.5 covers all versions down to 2

User avatar
Mugsy

Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:29 am
Location: Houston

HTPC Specs: Show details

#38

Post by Mugsy » Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:15 am

Here is the (free) utility I used: "NET_Detector"

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-chec ... -computer/

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#39

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:56 am

Mugsy wrote:Thx for the reply Crash, but the *only* program causing me difficulty is WMP (IE not updating isn't a "corruption" issue. It's a well-documented problem that affects people who didn't update IE at the time of IE10/11's release.)/[/quote

If the possibilities are "WMP is messed up" vs "all of Windows 7 is messed up", I think it is far more likely to be the former, not the later./[/quote

Short of reinstalling Win7 from scratch to a reformatted hard drive, how do you suggest I "clean up" Windows 7? I'm am already using a 120GB SSD as my boot drive.
/[/quote
Does "man up" entail spending hours reinstalling dozens of programs and reconfiguring every app (including getting WMC' working properly again... the very issue I posted this thread to avoid?) :/
I am running IE 10 on my win7 htpc, I am unaffected. I have never heard of this problem before can you point me to a link that that will show me this well-documented problem

No comment on the second one we disagree. That's all there is to it

I suggested a new Drive so that you could eliminate hard drive problem for starters and also so that you can start fresh and still have all your stuff on the other Drive

Man up means..... doing whatever it takes to get the job done, rather than criticizing the suggestions that have been given to you.

In one of your previous threads you say you went into programs and features and unchecked WMC and media center then boot it when you came back it was still unselected and it still didn't work.

It is not supposed to work after you deselect it in programs and features. you've just uninstalled it. At that point you were supposed to select WMC and media player to install them back in. What did you do? Your went running for the restore.

Let me be crystal clear for you buy yourself a $50 SSD they might even be cheaper. Install Windows 7 do all your updates forget about all them 40,000 extra little programs that's going to take you a week to install. Just get W M C & W M P working properly.

Anytime that you need a little pain and aggravation you can always boot back into the old Drive.

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#40

Post by Crash2009 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:04 am

Internet Explorer needs an update before installing
This issue is being faced by those users who have the following computers:

Dell Inspiron N4120, Dell Inspiron N5110, Dell Vostro 3350, HP Pavilion DV6, HP Pavilion DV7, HP Pavilion G6, HP Pavilion G7, HP ProBook 4530s, Lenovo G770, Lenovo Ideapad G570 (20079), Lenovo ThinkPad E420 (1141PW8), Sony VPCCA15FW, Sony VPCCA17FL, Sony VPCCB2S1E, Sony VPCCB45FG,Sony VPCCB4Q1E, Sony VPCCB4S1R.
Internet Explorer 10 does not install
The reason for this happening is because, some computers have hybrid video cards that are not yet compatible with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. As a result Internet Explorer 10 will not install on these Windows 7 computers until updated hardware drivers are available for these video cards.

Microsoft is working with these computer manufacturers and expects the device drivers to be available soon.

Post Reply