Reinstall WMP11 on Vista

[Zylstra]

I am having problems reinstalling WMP11 on Vista, WMP11 comes with Vista, and is loosely intergraded with it, and therefor, cannot be installed. You can not download the Windows XP version of WMP11 either, as it plain and simply will not work.

It is not under "Turn on or off Windows features [Windows Components]" or "Uninstall a Program"

I searched Google for a while today, and found absolutely nothing.

Vista uses WMP version: 11.0.6001.6346
(XP does not use this version, it uses a version that is specifically made for XP)

Currently using Vista SP1 (BETA)

Issue causing me to want to reinstall WMP11:
I can no longer seen video, or anything under the "Now Playing" window

[Broni]

Did you crosscheck with VLC, if it'll play?

[Zylstra]

Did you crosscheck with VLC, if it'll play?

Its not specifically video, nothing in the Now Playing area works, enhancements window, album art, visualization, URGE or Rhapsody information, etc

[Broni]

Did it just happen? Any new stuff on your computer?

[Zylstra]

Did it just happen? Any new stuff on your computer?

Just happened, I did run sfc /scannow, it did fine a file corrupted, but that was fixed automatically...
I do not recall exactly when it happened, I just noticed that my sound was no longer auto-adjusting, and that my audio was not overlapping, and I figured that I never got to setting up the options to do that... and I was unable to, since it requires the Now Playing thing to be working.

[Broni]

Did you try System Restore?

[Zylstra]

Did you try System Restore?

I think the issue happened way too far back... it just took me too long to notice. If I run system restore, my system will have a bit too much reverted to keep it functioning in its current state (too many things)
I dont think going back that far will be a solution I am willing to make, I suspect the issue started when I installed Vista.

[Broni]

I suspect the issue started when I installed Vista.

Oh, I didn't know that. Was it clean install?

[Zylstra]

I suspect the issue started when I installed Vista.

Oh, I didn't know that. Was it clean install?

Yes, I dont know just what happened... it worries me if other parts of my OS are the same way, but, everything seems stable (more stable that it was before)

[Broni]

Hey, maybe it's something about SP1 (beta)?

[Zylstra]

Hey, maybe it's something about SP1 (beta)?

I was just thinking about that earlier today
I honestly have no idea, I could uninstall SP1, but it would take a long time, and I am not sure how "safe" it is to do that after having run it for a while

[Broni]

Yeah, I don't mind trying betas of regular programs, but for the OS, I'd never do it on my main computer.
Didn't you create any backup before installing SP1?

[Zylstra]

Yeah, I don't mind trying betas of regular programs, but for the OS, I'd never do it on my main computer.
Didn't you create any backup before installing SP1?

There was nothing to back up, I had done a complete reformat.

If this seems to be what the issue is caused by, I can live with using VLC for video for a while, thats fine with me..
(woahgosh.. saying that probably made WMP's memory go up by 50MB)

[Broni]

Oh, so you installed SP1, right after you installed Vista?
On the other hand, you realize, that number of people is having WMP problems. Maybe it's not SP1. It was just my guess.

[Zylstra]

Okay, I recently uninstalled SP1 for Vista (since the real release is out now... I am upgrading to that)

I figured out the problem:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer
Has the incorrect permission settings. I am not part of the allowed groups for reading or having full control of half the stuff in there, including Plugins.

How do I fix that?

(Yes, I realize I resurrected this topic. I think I found the solution to a problem many people have had, and MUST get it solved ASAP so we can all get this into the FAQ bin so people will be able to fix it in the future)