Windows Media Player disappeared from my computer....

[Navy Chief]

I am running Windows 10 Pro. Most of the time, I use VLC to play music. Yesterday, I tried opening a song with Windows Media Player, and was surprised it would not open. The program was listed still, and files seemed intact, but would not open, period. :dizzy: NC

[Craig Taylor]

That's weird, NC. I have Win10 Pro as well, and it seems to work on my machine. I think I have all the latest updates, so I don't think an update would have intentionally disabled it.

[Navy Chief]

Is it possible to correct the problem, using the original Win 10 install disc? :dizzy: NC

[Naismith]

Is it possibly just the icon has vanished or maybe the association has been altered as to which program to open a music file?

Windows Media Player resides in the folder C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player. As long as that folder is still there you can drag a shortcut of wmplayer.exe to your desktop or taskbar run it open an MP3 and it should ask if you want to associate files to it.

Alternatively, search for "Choose default Apps" and associate your chosen audio files that way.

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs. Hope not.

[Navy Chief]

Is it possibly just the icon has vanished or maybe the association has been altered as to which program to open a music file?

Windows Media Player resides in the folder C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player. As long as that folder is still there you can drag a shortcut of wmplayer.exe to your desktop or taskbar run it open an MP3 and it should ask if you want to associate files to it.

Alternatively, search for "Choose default Apps" and associate your chosen audio files that way.

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs. Hope not.


No, your advice is fine, Naismith, but nothing seems to work. The directory is there, with the .exe file, but nothing happens when I initiate it. I can live without Media Player. Am wondering if a recent Win 10 update may have caused the problem. NC

[Dev One]

I have just checked my W10 laptop & I had to find a video in my files & then select Windows Media Player instead of the default VLC. It did work OK. I also notice that I have a Desktop Icon for 'Removed Applications' with an 'e' - Microsoft edge symbol. IIRC I had to reload my PSP7 because it had moved it during one update!
Good luck
Keith