Windows Media Player no longer plays .mp4 or .wmv files after upgrade

Same here. After upgrade, I can no longer play any WMV files stored on my computer. WTF Microsoft?

I found that if I turn off WMV DirectX video acceleration in WMP options videos starts playing.

alphabet said:

I found that if I turn off WMV DirectX video acceleration in WMP options videos starts playing.

That would make sense since WMP coming from win8 and earlier probably used directx9 features which are not packaged with windows 10. The directx acceleration may work if you get the directx redistributable and install it (which i might mention anytime i try to use the directx web installer on win10 it throws an error but when i install pcsx2 1.2.1 which is bundled with the directx installer it installs fine... idk why its the same package).

WMV files play OK for me under the Movies & TV application, and under WMP.

I didn't notice whether that was true before another application ran a DirectX installer, which installed some files that weren't included with 10.

I just tried the online DirectX updater. It informed me that I had a newer version, so it did nothing. The standalone installer ran, though. It may have even put in a few more files.

Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

alphabet said:

I found that if I turn off WMV DirectX video acceleration in WMP options videos starts playing.

This did not work for me.

I've spent an hour trying to get MP4 playback on Windows 10 to no avail. I am open to paying for an MP4 player but still no luck after downloading DIVX, MP4 codecs, and many other titles.

Download VLC media player , it's free and plays EVERYTHING.

Try to install Media Player codec pack.
If the codec pack is helpless as well, third-party MP4 player is a good choice.

Wullail said:

Download VLC media player , it's free and plays EVERYTHING.

Hi there

Absolutely for VLC player -- BTW it also handles H265 / HEVC codec -- latest really high compression for movies / video -- you'll really need this for High Quality 4K video - otherwise for these new 4K TV's file sizes become HUGE.

I'm surprised that anybody ever uses WMV stuff any more -- Using proprietary formats aways will cause grief in the long run.

You can easily convert files into mp4 / mkv with HANDBRAKE (including H265 /HEVC codec). You can also rip (including Blu Ray) directly to MKV (H264) with Make Mkv so there's utterly no reason to use WMV files or Windows media player any more.

BTW if you install PLEX on your computer and smartphone and have a Google Chromecast device all these formats can be casted to your remote TV from your computer / NAS. -- including the new H265 formats -- with subtitles too if you like them.

Chromecast dongle costs around 30 EUR in most W.European countries / EU - or around 25 GBP in UK (inc tax). Well worth the money as it handles PLEX You don't need to use any of the "built in apps". I stream all my media with PLEX.

Cheers
jimbo