WARNING: Do
NOT
attempt to uninstall Windows Media Player 9 if you have Service Pack 2
or
Service Pack 3 installed
under Windows XP. This tip will only work for users who are using
pre-SP2
editions of WinXP.
If you want to remove WMP9 under WinXP SP2 or SP3, just uninstall SP2/SP3
(unless you have
installed an integrated or slipstreamed version of WinXP already including
either
Service Pack
2 or Service Pack 3 which you won't have the ability to remove Media Player
9 at all).
Note that the tips
mentioned here can cause loss of personal settings & playlist files
for WMP9, so
backup your WMP
license files, personal user settings & playlist files before performing
the WMP9
removal process
if you want to save them. AND these tips are not for the 64-bit editions
of Windows XP
and all editions
of Windows Server 2003. Follow the directions very carefully.
Also, do NOT follow
these tips if
you have Windows Media Player 10 or 11 installed!
The tips are
for WMP9 ONLY!
For those using Win98
or WinME run the following command in Run dialog box:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
C:\Windows\INF\wmp.inf,Uninstall
Then click Yes to
continue & restart the computer.
For those using Win2000
or WinXP orig. or SP1 run the following command in Run dialog box:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
C:\Windows\INF\wmp.inf,Uninstall.NT
Then click Yes to
continue & restart the computer. Win2000 users should note that
the default Windows
folder is the WinNT
folder instead of Windows; look for the wmp.inf file in the 'C:\WinNT\INF'
folder.
Note that running
the command to 'uninstall' WMP9 does NOT remove all the files that came
with the
WMP9 setup package.
The uninstaller only removes the essential files required to run WMP9 and
it does
not remove some
of its registry entries.
After rebooting
delete the following files from the following folders---
from the 'c:\windows\system\catroot\{--GUID--}'
folder if using Win98/WinME
from the 'c:\winnt\system32\catroot\{--GUID--}'
folder if using Win2000
from the 'c:\windows\system32\catroot\{--GUID--}'
folder if using WinXP
where {--GUID--}
is the random GUID number of your machine; delete the following:
------------
drm.cat setup_wm.cat
WMFSDK.cat wmdm.cat wmp.cat
------------
(on certain versions
of Windows some of the above files may already be deleted
so just delete
the remaining files)
from the 'C:\Windows\Inf'
or 'C:\WinNT\Inf' folder delete the following:
------------
drm.inf skins.inf
unregmp2.exe wmdm.inf WMFSDK.inf wmp.inf
------------
(in WinXP, you may
be prompted to insert your XP CD so that it can restore
its version
of the unregmp2.exe file; in Win98se, 2000 & ME some of the
above files
may already be deleted so remove the remaining files)
from the 'c:\program
files\windows media player' folder delete the following:
------------
npdrmv2.dll
npdrmv2.zip npwmsdrm.dll pidgen.dll setup_wm.exe
wmpband.dll wmplayer.exe
------------
(in WinXP, you may
be prompted to insert your XP CD so that it can restore the npdrmv2.dll,
npwmsdrm.dll,
setup_wm.exe
& wmplayer.exe files; if you have Mozilla, Netscape, Opera or Firefox
web browser
installed
delete the npdrmv2.dll, npdrmv2.zip, npdsplay.dll & npwmsdrm.dll files
from the browser's
Plugins folder)
and finally delete
the following files from your Windows System folder:
c:\windows\system\
if using Win98/WinME
c:\winnt\system32\
if using Win2000
c:\windows\system32\
if using WinXP
------------
asferror.dll
blackbox.dll cewmdm.dll drmclien.dll drmstor.dll
drmv2clt.dll laprxy.dll
logagent.exe
mp43dmod.dll mpg4dmod.dll mp4sdmod.dll msnetobj.dll
mspmsnsv.dll mspmsp.dll
msscp.dll
mswmdm.dll qasf.dll wmadmod.dll wmadmoe.dll wmasf.dll
wmdmlog.dll wmdmps.dll
wmerror.dll
wmidx.dll wmnetmgr.dll wmp.ocx wmpasf.dll wmpcd.dll
wmpcore.dll wmploc.dll
wmpshell.dll
wmpui.dll wmsdmod.dll wmsdmoe2.dll wmspdmod.dll
wmspdmoe.dll wmvcore.dll
wmvdmod.dll
wmvdmoe2.dll
------------
(if using WinXP,
insert your XP CD to restore many of the WMP files that were stored
in the system
folder)
Now open registry
editor (regedit.exe) and delete the following registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
Media
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer
Open Windows Explorer
and delete the following folders if using Win98se or WinME and you don't
want
to keep the user
settings stored in the following folders:
'C:\WINDOWS\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index'
'C:\WINDOWS\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player'
'C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Microsoft\Media Player'
If using Win2000,
look in the WINNT folder instead of the WINDOWS folder and follow the above
directions.
If using WinXP,
look in the 'Documents and Settings' folder instead of the Windows folder
(ex. 'C:\Documents
and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player').
Now delete
the Media Index
& Media Player folders.
If user profiles
are installed, delete the following folder (where 'username' is the name
of the currently
logged on user:
'C:\WINDOWS\Profiles\username\Application
Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for Win98se/WinME)
'C:\WINNT\Profiles\username\Application
Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for Win2000)
'C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for WinXP)
Also delete the wmsetup.log,
WMSysPr9.prx & WMSysPrx.prx files from the Windows or WinNT folder.
Then delete the
DRM folder from the Windows or WinNT folder. Then reboot and you're
all done.
Now you can install
an older version of WMP like WMP 7.1 under Win98, 2000 or ME. Just
simply
download & run
the WMP 7.1 installer with the /Q switch to quietly install all the Media
Player components.
You may need to
install or re-install WMP 7.1 twice [once with the /Q switch and
then run it normally but
choose the option
to Reinstall All Components; this will re-install all WMP files and reset
registry settings].
You may also want
to download & install ALL of the Windows Media Codecs packages so that
you can
open new Windows
Media Audio & Video files in WMP 7.1 or WMP 6.4. Get the WM codecs
packages
listed at my IE/WMP
Updates page. To fully restore WMP 8 for WinXP run the System
File Checker tool
with the /scannow
switch from the Command Prompt or Run dialog box [ex. sfc /scannow], insert
your
WinXP CD and when
the SFC tool is done restoring all the WMP8 files from the XP cd, restart
the computer.
Then extract the
wmp.inf file from the wmp.in_ file from your XP cd-rom and place the wmp.inf
file into the
'c:\windows\inf'
folder (overwrite if necessary). Extract the wmplayer.chm file from
the wmplayer.ch_ file
from the XP CD and
place the wmplayer.chm file into the 'c:\windows\help' folder (overwrite
if necessary).
Then run the following
commands in the Run dialog box:
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection
InstallWMP64 132 c:\windows\inf\mplayer2.inf
(direct the installer
to the I386 folder of your XP cd-rom)
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection
InstallWMP7 132 c:\windows\inf\wmp.inf
(direct the installer
to the I386 folder of your XP cd-rom)
Now restart the computer
and test out Windows Media Player 8. If WMP8 loads, great.
If not and you get
an error message
trying to run WMP8, check to see if all the Media Player 8 files have been
restored by
WinXP [some files
may still be missing]. Look in the following folders for the essential
files:
'c:\program files\windows
media player'
------------
npdrmv2.dll
npwmsdrm.dll setup_wm.exe wmplayer.exe wmpvis.dll
------------
'c:\windows\system32'
------------
asferror.dll
asfsipc.dll blackbox.dll cewmdm.dll drmclien.dll
drmstor.dll drmv2clt.dll laprxy.dll
logagent.exe
mpg4dmod.dll msnetobj.dll mspmsp.dll mspmspsv.dll
msscp.dll mswmdm.dll
qasf.dll wmadmod.dll
wmadmoe.dll wmasf.dll wmdmlog.dll wmdmps.dll wmerror.dll
wmidx.ocx
wmnetmgr.dll
wmp.ocx wmpcd.dll wmpcore.dll wmploc.dll wmpshell.dll
wmpstub.exe wmpui.dll
wmsdmod.dll
wmsdmoe.dll wmstream.dll wmvcore.dll wmv8dmod.dll
wmvdmod.dll wmvdmoe.dll
------------
If some of the files
mentioned above are missing or in the wrong version, gather them from your
Windows XP
cd-rom, overwrite
the files if necessary, run the mplayer2.inf & wmp.inf Install commands
again from the
Run dialog box and
restart the computer & run WMP8 again. It should work for sure.
Then you can install
updated WM Codecs
packs so you can play Media Player files in newer formats in WMP8.
Note: You can also
use the tips above to remove WMP9 build 3250 after installing updated WMP9
files from XP SP2
over the original WMP9 package; to install the WMP9 files from XP SP2 onto
Win98se/WinME, download
and install the unofficial
WMP9 Update Rollup pack which includes not
only the WMP9 files
from XP SP2 but also the latest WMP9 security fixes. The version
of WMP9
included in XP SP3
is WMP9 build 4503.
[Click here to go back to my Computer Tips for Windows page - part 2]