Windows Media Player no longer adding certain videos to library

Ten Forward · 26 Jul 2019

I still use Windows Media Player and after moving files to a new drive, I had to add some folders back to WMP. Expected behavior: WMP adds files in those folders to the library. Observed behavior: it does not add all of them.

This used to work before with the same files (?!), I don't get it why it is not recognizing certain files anymore. Funny thing is, it plays the files just fine (most of them mp4), it just will not add them to the library.

I tried troubleshooting via built-in tool. Manually deleted library database file. "Uninstalled" WMP and added it again, no luck.

Is MS finally tired of me still using WMP? Unfortunately, there are no good alternatives. Software that will play audio and video and have a good library component as well (with 16:9 thumbnails for videos).

Does anyone have any ideas? About the issue and alternatives.

- - - Updated - - -

Okay, I've done some more investigating and it turns out the missing files are being added to WMP, but not as videos. They are being added to the category Other media, which I wasn't even displaying.

Attachment 241340

I cannot move the files to the other library. If I compare properties of normal video files and these other media files, I see that the latter category shows the following:

Attachment 241341

I cannot seem to edit that field, which says "video" for the normal files.

Tim De Baets · 30 Jul 2019

I've recently seen similar behavior in more recent builds of Windows 10, in my case not with video files but with .m4a audio files using the Apple Lossless codec. Up to a certain point, Windows 10 was recognizing such audio files fine and was adding them to the Music library, while these files have always been a problem on Windows 7/8 where they would be added to Other media. Now it looks like Windows 10 has started showing this same old behavior again.

Could you let me know the full version number of WMP on your system? (available through Help - About Windows Media Player, press Ctrl+M if you don't see the Help menu)

Another interesting piece of info to know would be the exact audio and video codec that is used in the affected .mp4 files. You can see this by opening one of the files in a codec information tool such as GSpot.

Ten Forward · 31 Jul 2019

Hi Tim,

Version is as follows:
Attachment 241816

I've attached the output of MediaInfo, which is a tool I already have installed.

I've also noticed several of the following in the Event Viewer (Event ID 1000):

Faulting application name: wmplayer.exe, version: 12.0.18362.1, time stamp: 0x295782f3
Faulting module name: combase.dll, version: 10.0.18362.239, time stamp: 0x82b27eea
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00134d7f
Faulting process id: 0x24d8
Faulting application start time: 0x01d547c559c8fb26
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\combase.dll
Report Id: 040f4a7d-18e4-48e8-9159-8c1e0b4f8910
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

In the mean time I've been looking at alternatives. Currently testing a trial of payware JRiver Media Center. Really nice, many configuration options. Plays files, but also has a great library.

Tim De Baets · 01 Aug 2019

Thanks, the codecs listed in your text file don't seem to be anything special, just plain AVC and AAC that should be common enough for WMP to recognize the file as regular video. So there's no explanation for the odd behavior there.

The one thing that does strike out is the Xtra atom called WM/MediaClassPrimaryID contained within the file. That specific tag is used by WMP to classify the file as either audio, video, or something else, so this could be causing the issue.

However, the only way that I know of to read the value of this tag (and to possibly modify it) is with the tag editor of my own Windows Media Player Plus! plug-in (+ an additional registry tweak). If you're willing to install my plug-in to give this a try, I would be happy to provide further instructions.

Ten Forward · 02 Aug 2019

I've installed the plug-in. I'm curious to see where this goes.

Tim De Baets · 03 Aug 2019

By default, Windows Media Player Plus! only shows the Tag Editor Plus item when right-clicking music files, and you'll need to apply a registry tweak to make it show the item for other media types (including Other media). Launch Registry Editor (by pressing Win+R and executing regedit), navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BM-productions\WMP Plus, and edit the ShowTagEditorPlusForOtherTypes value there from 0 to 1. Then restart WMP.

Next, right-click one of the videos in Other media, it should now show a Tag Editor Plus item so select it. You will now get a list of all the tags that are set for the video in the library, including a WM/MediaClassPrimaryID tag. What's its current value?

If you change that tag's value to {DB9830BD-3AB3-4FAB-8A37-1A995F7FF74B} and press Enter, does the tag entry in the list become bold? If so, this means that the new value is different from the old. You can then press OK to exit the tag editor and save the change to file. Now all you need to do is remove the video from the library (Delete - Delete from library only - OK), and re-add it (Tools - Advanced - Restore deleted library items, press Ctrl+M if you don't see the Tools menu). Now the video should (hopefully) be added to the Video library again, please let me know if it works.

Edit: it's probably also important to mention that the registry tweak should be applied while WMP isn't running. Otherwise, the edit could be overwritten again because my plug-in saves its settings on WMP exit.

Ten Forward · 03 Aug 2019

The value that was there in the file is {FCF24A76-9A57-4036-990D-E35DD8B244E1}.

I followed your steps, the new value is being bolded and then saved (but not to the file itself?), but after I deleted the file from the library and then re-added it (restore deleted items), the value of that field is the above one again. And the file is in the other media category.

Tim De Baets · 04 Aug 2019

If you edit one of the other tags like Title or UserEffectiveRating, does that get written to the file itself (i.e. is the tag restored correctly when you re-add the video to the library)?

If necessary, I could also provide you a tool that can directly read the WM/MediaClassPrimaryID tag from file, as well as modify it.

Ten Forward · 04 Aug 2019

Title can be edited, but is not saved to the file itself either. UserEffectiveRating cannot be edited.

Feel free to le me know what other tool I can try.

Tim De Baets · 04 Aug 2019

Is the Write media information changes to files setting enabled in Tools - Options - Library? Also please check if the video file isn't marked as read-only in Explorer.