BleepingComputer.com: Windows Media P[layer Is All Catty Whampus

I am using Media Player 10 with XP Home SP2. Recently I can't get through a video clip without the screen going black and then comes back, stops the video, and locks up the computer so I have to hit the reset button to restart.
I have run all my spyware programs, virus scanners etc and they are all up to date, so I'm pretty confidant there isn't any nasty stuff lurking waiting to get me.
I was going to uninstall It and try reinstalling thinking it might be corrupted, but it's not in my Add/Remove program list. I looked in my program files and noticed that ver 6.4.0.9 is still in there and works when I try it. So go figure.
Anybody know how I can uninstall them so I can start clean?
Thanks
Floyd

This post has been edited by floyd: 16 November 2006 - 07:17 PM

http://ezinearticles.com/?Uninstall-Window...in&id=56655

If you have installed Windows Media Player 10, you can roll back to the version of the Player that was on your computer before installing Windows Media Player 10.

To roll back from Windows Media Player 10 to a previous version, do the following:


In Control Panel (Category View), click Add or Remove Programs.
Click Remove a program

Now do one of the following: If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2, select the Show updates check box (at the top of the list), click Windows Media Player 10 (in the Windows Updates section), and then click Change/Remove.

If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 1 or earlier, click Windows Media Player 10, and then click Change/Remove.

As of writing this many people have found bugs in WMP10 that make it unavailble for common audio and video files. If you find that WMP10 is crashing or giving you errors and you cant play your media files. Uninstall it with these directions and stay happy.

Be like the rest of the world and install Winamp.

Buddy thanks for your speedy reply. You know I've tried that and it says that media Player has been rolled back to previous version, but when I play a clip it's still ver 10 and the same thing happens. I think I'm going to have to delete MP entirely, if that's possible and do a clean install. But the real question is how to do it. Any other ideas?
Floyd

Interesting info here:http://www.auditmypc.com/uninstall-media-player10beta.asp

Doesn't look like it is possible to completely uninstall. How about using a different program? I have Real set as default media player and it works great.

Another good idea but....
I had Quicktime and a player called VLC which was almost indestructible and would always play clips that other players wouldn't. Not very pretty but effective. Well, they did the same thing. Those too I uninstalled and MP still acted the same way. I'll maybe try Realplayer as I haven't used it in years, but I have a very low degree of confidence.
I'll post back and if any others have ideas I'd love to hear. I really don't want to have to reformat. Yuk.
Floyd

Real Player = Same old, same old. Thanks anyway. Next I going for the sledge hammer approach and try the regedit suggested above.
On second thought I think I'll wait until tomorrow, after a good nights sleep.
I'll let you know.
Floyd

Does that mean you are having the same problem in Real?
Beginning to sound like a hardware problem. Maybe a good Fall cleaning might be in order. The free program listed in the link below will clean your temp files, logs,registry---defragment hard drive---scan for malware.
http://safety.live.com/site/en-GB/default.htm?mkt=en-GB

Yes Buddy. Real was the same. I tried the regedit fixed you mentioned above and it still wanted to roll V10 to last version but it didn't. V10 is still there.
I have run countless disk cleaners and adware utilities already and nothing seems to help, so I am going to bite the bullet and reformat.
Thanks again for your suggestions
Floyd