[SOLVED] Windows Media Player Won’t Open Video/Audio/DVD on Win10

Windows Media Player, AKA WMP, is undoubtedly a helpful tool for Windows users to watch videos and listen to music. But some Windows users are no longer have a good time with this Windows built-in media player software since it cannot open MP4, WMV, or DVDs as well as audio files like MP3 occasionally.

The strike of this media player makes it disturbing whenever you tend to play videos, DVDs, or music with WMP. If you still want to enjoy motion pictures or music on your Windows 10 computer, fixing the Windows Media Player won’t open issue becomes a notable part of movie and music appreciation.

Check out the following content and start to get rid of the disturbance.

1. Try a reinstallation when Windows Media Player won’t play

In most cases, it’s hard to identify the correct cause and fix the error specifically since there’re many reasons for the WMP won’t open issue, and relatively, many solutions as well. And there’s a general method that you can try when you encounter this kind of trouble, which is to reinstall the Windows Media Player on your computer.

This is how-to:

Step 1 On your Windows computer, click the Search icon and type in Control Panel.

Step 2 On Control Panel, choose to view by Category and click Programs.

Step 3 On the Programs window, hit the Turn Windows features on or off option under Programs and Features.

Step 4 A box comes out where you need to locate Media Features, and then uncheck the Windows Media Player option. Click Yes to confirm. Then, your system will start to uninstall WMP from your computer, when the process is done, click OK to proceed.

Step 5 Restart your computer and redo the previous steps, this time, you need to check the Windows Media Player option. Click OK to confirm and your system will start to download the latest Windows Media Player software onto your PC.

2. Apply to a third-party media player when Windows Media Player won’t open

When Windows Media Player is bugged, you can turn to other media players to play videos, DVDs, and music. Instead of being stuck in finding and examing those possible solutions, simply switching to a more powerful media player will be time-saving and relaxing.

Here, my recommendation is Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player.

Superior to Windows Media Player, the Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player has the power to decode, open, and play all kinds of video and audio files including DVDs and BDs as well as a bunch of regular file formats. So you’ll never have to worry about receiving a file in a rare format, this media player got your back.

Also, supporting up-to-4K playback, the program will deliver you the HD frames with absolute no stutters and gaps. If you’re a music fan, this media player can give you crystal clear audio feedback with the buttress of Dolby 7.1 and Lossless audio technology.

You may download this media player with the button below and start to use it as your Windows default media player.

3. Run Windows Media Player Troubleshooter when Windows Media Player won’t open

On Windows computer, there’s a built-in Troubleshooter program that you can use to fix all kinds of Windows errors as long as it can detect and handle.

Here’s how you can manually activate the Troubleshooter:

Step 1 On the desktop, click the Search icon and type in Control Panel, open it.

Step 2 On Control Panel, set View By as Large icons and choose Troubleshooting from all listed icons.

Step 3 From the sidebar of the Troubleshooting window, click View All.

Step 4 Locate Windows Media Player Library from the list, click on it, and hit Next on a pop-out dialog box.

Step 5 The Troubleshooter will start to scan the Windows Media Player. If there’s any problem with it, the Troubleshoot will prompt you to the solution. Click Apply this fix to carry on.

4. Delete the Windows Media Player Library when WMP has stopped working

Your Windows Media Player always shares data and information with an online database so that it may somehow absorb some bugs and store it on the Library, which may be the cause of your Windows Media Player won’t work issue. So the fix will be easy which is to stop the sharing and delete the Library.

Try this:

Step 1 On your computer, search for Services and open the wizard.

Step 2 On the Services windows, locate Windows Media Player Network Sharing Services and right-click on it, choose Stop from the drop-down list to end the online data sharing.

Step 3 Close the Services window, open This PC and locate Media Player (Location: C:// > Users > Default > AppData > Local > Microsoft), right-click on the folder and choose Delete.

5. Type in .dll codes when Windows Media Player won’t open

Still, if you hate to narrow down to specific methods, you can manually type in some DLL  codes (Dynamic-link Library, Microsoft’s implementation of the shared library concept in Windows system) for your Windows Media Player to re-register it.

After the re-registration, some or all of the previous logs will be updated and refreshed, which can erase the undefined bugs on the software.

Do this:

Step 1 On your Windows machine, type in CMD on the Search bar and open Command Prompt.

Step 2 On the Command Prompt panel,

6.Disable DirectX Video Acceleration when Windows Media Player makes no sound

If the DirectX Video Acceleration is enabled on WMP, this media player may focus on the video displaying and the path to the audio showing may be disabled temporarily. And this the reason why some WMP users will complain that Windows Media Player won’t play sound.

In this case, it’s very easy to get rid of the WMP no sound issue, you can need to disable the DirectX Video Acceleration option on this player.

Follow this:

Step 1 Launch Windows Media Player on your computer, then,

• If you’re in the Now Playing interface, right-click on it and choose More options;

• Or you set Windows Media Player into Library mode, locate Organize and choose Options from the pull-down list.

Step 2 On the Options window, go to Performance and look down, find the Turn on DirectX Video Acceleration for WMV files option. Uncheck it, click Apply, and hit OK to confirm.

To warp up:

All 6 methods are positive. You may try them to fix your Windows Media Player won’t open issue. As mentioned before, if you don’t want to try each fix specifically, a third-party media player will be a great way out.

Related Reading:

• Alternative to Windows Media Player to Play Videos and Music
• Why Does My DVD Not Play on Windows Media Player
• Windows Media Player Encountered A Problem While Playing The File