How to get rid of Windows Media Player ?

[Guest]

Microsoft decided to play the Police/FBI/CIA/whatever (DRM) watching
everything that I am doing with Windows media Player.
There are other Media Players nowadays that offer the playback (without DRM)
of a lot more media-file-types than Windows media player.
I have installed 2 of them myself that together allow the playback of almost
every media-file that I can dream of : MPC and VLC.
That is why I would like to know how I can COMPLETELY UNINSTALL Windows
Media Player from my Vista-system because:
- I do not need it for the playback of my media files
- It is spying on me (DRM)
- It is limiting me in what I want to do
I am not doing anything illegal with media files, but I can simply not stand
it that MS is watching me with it’s DRM.
Nor do I admit MS to limit my possibilities because I might be thinking
about doing something illegal.
MS should remain a software/OS developer; it should not become a police
corps watching my moves all the time.

I want to get rid of Windows Media Player, according to the European rules
that have been imposed to MS.

Can somebody please tell me how to do so ?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[Jack]

get rid off Windows!

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jack for this most valuable advice.
I will do so.

 

[Ian]

ignore the last answer which is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard,
there are some pricks on here! I do not exactly know how you delete MP
however, you are absolutely correct. The EU did impose a condition on MS
and it's blatant misuse of power and I know they insisted that MP must be
"deleteable"
Good luck, I am sure the definitive answer will arrive shortly.

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

I want to get rid of Windows Media Player, according to the European rules
that have been imposed to MS.

You are specifically looking for the Windows Vista "N" SKU here. The "N"
SKU does not have Windows Media Player. All non-N versions do have Windows
Media Player. If you accidentally bought a non-N version and wanted an N
version, you should attempt an exchange with your retailer/provider. There
is no support for turning a non-N version into an N version - it's already a
very complex world. But the N version should be what you want. =)

 

[Guest]

I believe you have to purchase Vista without WMP 11 (special disk) which is
only available to European countries. If it's installed, you can't remove it
without removing Vista.

Windows Media Player 11 is a permanent part of the North American version of
Windows Vista.

 

[Guest]

Hi zachd and mhonzell,

Thanks for your answers.
Maybe there is a way to take away all file-associations that point to WMP ?
That would help me already a lot.

Thanks on beforehand for your help.

 

[Guest]

OK, got that.
Would it be possible to delete all the existing file-associations with WMP11 ?
That might be the solution to my problem.

Thanks on beforehand

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

Deleting file associations is bad because you'll lose valuable data about
the file type.

What you probably would want to do is go to the Default Programs option on
the Start menu, and either use Set Program Defaults to associate to
something else or - and you may like this one more - use Set Program Access
and Defaults to either hide WMP or set some other player as default.

Generally, you should be able to easily associate any type to another player
when that other player installs, or using the Default Programs mechanisms -
provided they register for those. But those are really easy to register
for. If you're having problems in that arena, it's *probably* sourced to
the other player you're using. If you're specific about what that is, it
shouldn't be too hard to either fix it up, get a fix from the vendor, or I
may be able to cobble together a registration script for them (since Set
Program Defauls it pretty much entirely registry-based).

-Zach

 

[Mike Matheny]

Options/File types - uncheck all.

 

[DanS]

Windows Media Player 11 is a permanent part of the North American
version of Windows Vista.

And forgive me, but that is just stupid (knowing how some people here view
anything Vista being called stupid although it applies to earlier versions
also).

Why is that ? MP is just another program to view digital content. Like IE
is to browse the web, AutoCAD is for drafting, and WinZip is for file
compression. Why do so many MS programs 'need' to be 'part of the O/S', and
can't be removed totally ?

There should be easy means to uninstall every *program* installed in
Windows by MS.

They are afterall, really just more programs. I function daily w/o using
most of the BS MS puts on my hand drive in way of programs.

 

[Nina DiBoy]

And forgive me, but that is just stupid (knowing how some people here view
anything Vista being called stupid although it applies to earlier versions
also).

Why is that ? MP is just another program to view digital content. Like IE
is to browse the web, AutoCAD is for drafting, and WinZip is for file
compression. Why do so many MS programs 'need' to be 'part of the O/S', and
can't be removed totally ?

http://www.vlite.net/

Most can be removed or excluded, MS just tries to hide it.

There should be easy means to uninstall every *program* installed in
Windows by MS.

They are afterall, really just more programs. I function daily w/o using
most of the BS MS puts on my hand drive in way of programs.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"hahaha...oh, I do detect a hint of jealousy or what! Where Darrell
actually helps people all you do is beg for attention. Shame on you! Go
get professional psychological clinical help with your obvious problems
and stop your bandwidth sucking bullshit postings in this ng. (rip,
snort, belch, burp, chuckle)"

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot

 

[Lispo]

best players:

http://www.pcjudge.com/Audio-Video/Media-Players/

 

[Robert Robinson]

I agree that Windows Media player is absolutely awful. It does have
excellent audio quality - perhaps the best of any player - but the user
interfaces are extremely poorly designed and the player is difficult to
use. I also object to the implementation of the highly restrictive
"content protection", especially WMA (Windows Media Audio) Protected.
An interesting audio player is Foobar2000. It is simple, easy to use,
works well, and contains no annoying advertising.
See: http://www.foobar2000.org/index.html