Media Player 11 won't launch in Vista

[Guest]

I've read many threads here describing the problem of Media Player suddenly
not launching in Visa and the solutions seems to be an "in-place reinstall of
Visa." How do I do that? Is it absolutely safe, that is, having zero chance
of mucking up my system or losing data?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I've read many threads here describing the problem of Media Player suddenly
not launching in Visa and the solutions seems to be an "in-place reinstall of
Visa." How do I do that? Is it absolutely safe, that is, having zero chance
of mucking up my system or losing data?

I don't know anything about the Media Player problem you ask about,
but I wanted to point out that a repair installation is *not*
absolutely safe. As a matter of fact, there is *nothing* you can do
that has a zero percent chance of "mucking up [your] system or losing
data."

That said, the risks are slight. But risks are always present and
nothing is 100% safe. It's for that reason that you always want to
have a good backup in place, especially before taking any big steps
like this.

 

[Michael Solomon]

I've read many threads here describing the problem of Media Player
suddenly
not launching in Visa and the solutions seems to be an "in-place reinstall
of
Visa." How do I do that? Is it absolutely safe, that is, having zero
chance
of mucking up my system or losing data?

That's a bit drastic first step and nothing is foolproof, nothing you do
"has zero chance of mucking up your system or losing data." As stated in
the second line of my signature, "Backup is a PC user's best friend. Hope
for the best but ALWAYS be prepared for the worst.

That said, before trying a full reinstall you have other less dangerous
options. You can try using System Restore to take you back to a time prior
to when the issue. All Programs\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore.

If that fails, you can try the Vista repair option. Boot from your Vista
Disk and at the setup screen choose the repair option.

 

[Michael Solomon]

I've read many threads here describing the problem of Media Player
suddenly
not launching in Visa and the solutions seems to be an "in-place reinstall
of
Visa." How do I do that? Is it absolutely safe, that is, having zero
chance
of mucking up my system or losing data?

In addition to alternative options I have posted, you might also try "SFC
/Scannow. So the following Knowledge Base Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Michael. For some reason, I didn't get an email notification of your
response. I will check-out the KB article ASAP. Didn't want you think of
me as an ungrateful sod ...

 

[Michael Solomon]

Thanks, Michael. For some reason, I didn't get an email notification of
your
response. I will check-out the KB article ASAP. Didn't want you think
of
me as an ungrateful sod ...

No problem, David, hope you get it sorted out.

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I ran the commands and it didn't fix the problem. I have a slew of
files it didn't fix, perhaps one or more associated with WMP, but I am
clueless and the directions in the KB artilce just don't make sense to me.
I'm just gonna use another media player and give up.