Media Player playing files but not launching application window

[Joe Grover]

I'm running a new install of Vista Ultimate and it seems that about 90% of
the time if I double-click on an audio file (such as a .WAV or .MP3)
wmplayer.exe launches and starts playing the file, however there is nothing
onscreen indicating that this is happening--which means the only way to stop
it is to open Task Manager and end the task, and there is no way to scan
through the track.

If I go to Start -> Run and run wmplayer, then close it, then for a short
time double-clicking on a file will open the Media Player window and play
the file, but if I try again later in the day or the next day I'm back at
square one.

Any ideas?

 

[zachd [MSFT]]

What specifically is working and what doesn't?
Does opening it by itself via the WMP shortcut lead to it locking up on
shutdown?
Does opening it with a video file lead to it locking up on shutdown?

What video card and audio card do you have on this system? WMP locking up
on shutdown is typically indicative of a driver that's not shutting down
properly - are there driver updates available for your devices?