Problem with Windows Media Player

I used to be on windows 10 pro version 1709, but I decided to update to 1803 (OS Build 17134.191), and after I did, I updated my Shark007 Codecs (Advanced Version/32 to 64-Bit bundle) to version 10.4.1

Normally when I update, I have no problems at all, so I doubted I would after this, but for some reason, windows media player went full retard. I decided to put a music video on that I downloaded a long while back (a .mkv file), and I tried skipping ahead by moving the seek bar, but it wouldn't work. it was stuck and wouldn't let me move ahead, although I could still pause, stop, and skip to the next video(s)/music. This problem does not happen with any other video/music format, only isolated to .mkv files at the moment of this post

I ran a dism /scanhealth check and a sfc /scannow check, an error check-scan (right clicking C: drive), even a virus scan with mcafee and superantivirus (all updated to current builds/virus databases). No dice; if there is a method of fixing this, any help will be appreciated. perhaps a way to replace possible corrupted WMP components?

good morning

recently windows media player have a lot of bugs including that after you close the app, it continu to play on the background and you have to close it menualy from the task manager.

i recommend you dearly to install vlc media player. vls is more stable, takes less ressorces and have and works like a charm

another issue is that windows media player can give an error on some video file ext. and not play the file while vlc will open them and play them perfectly.

have a good day
o.m

HI folks
VLC as people have mentioned is brilliant.

WMP is probably due for the chop any time soon in any case.

If you have saved multi-media files on say NAS server or shared HDD's you can also stream these to remote TV's via KODI. Install KODI on android device e.g amazon TV / ROKU etc and connect to remote TV.

KODI will also play on local computer -- note one advantage over VLC is that it can directly play DVD / BLU RAY iso images including the menus etc. So if you've ripped a DVD via DVDshrink or AnyDVD or similar you can easily play this on a remote TV without needing a DVD player.

VLC can also stream but it's not intuitive. KODI can do it straight from the box --- simply browse Windows / SMB shares and play wheter music or video.

KODI does take a little bit more patience to set up but absolutely worth installing. I find particularly on an android phone VLC sometimes has trouble finding all the shares whereas KODI finds them at once

Cheers
jimbo

Bree said:

dism and sfc should have done that if necessary. WMP is a windows component, you could try removing it then adding it again, that may 'reinstall' it. It's in the 'Media Features' section of Windows Features.

Turn Windows Features On or Off in Windows 10

I don't seem to have a problem playing mkv files in 17134.191. You could try uninstalling your codec pack to see if that's causing the problem.

As moreofir says, you could try VLC. That plays far more formats than WMP, and it doesn't rely on windows having the right codec, they're all built in to VLC.

I Uninstalled my shark007 codecs, turned WMP Off and On using the powershell steps here, reinstalled my shark codecs, and tried playing the .mkv file again. No dice. Would it be any different if I did the 1st and 2nd steps instead?

And yes, I know about VLC Media Player, I have it installed, and it plays all my music/videos just fine, but I would like to get this little problem solved rather than it staying on my computer, waiting till the next windows update and hoping that will fix it

The free built-in Movies & TV app plays mkv files if you want to use it as default program. As others have said, a lot of WMP features will be deprecated in future editions.

I did as you said bree; I uninstalled WMP through the optional features settings, restarted, ran a dism scanhealth and sfc /verifyonly check and they both reported no problems. I then reinstalled WMP through the same optional features settings, restarted again for good measure, then tried playing my .mkv file as is (no shark codecs installed); im still having that problem, no progression

I see there's another cumulative update, so ill see about updating my computer with it, but I got this feeling it won't make much of a difference