Windows media player cannot find codec

Asked By Raven Jackson 10 points N/A Posted on - 07/24/2011

Up until recently my windows media player was working just fine. But after running some updates from windows. Whenever I try to play some music with my player I get this error message:

Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file.

I tried reinstalling my codecs and still I get the same error.  What can I do to fix this without reformatting?

• Status: Open
• Question Views: 1872
• Answer Count: 2
• Vote Up 1 Vote Down

• Answer Accepted: Yes
• Question Category: Misc Software

Best Answer by shah hassan

Go To Solution

Best Answer

Best Answer

Answered By shah hassan 0 points N/A #82941

Windows media player cannot find codec

The reason of this error could be the following.  Windows Media Player WMP supports the file type whereas WMP does not support the code which is used to compress the file.   Or the file is encoded by a code so that WMP cannot read the file.

WMP can play a number of file formats and you can find some information at the Microsoft support website.  Here is the link https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/316992/file-types-supported-by-windows-media-player.  And if you cannot find your preferred format in the above list, then you have to download the relevant codes.

Hope this could help.

About shah hassan

Questions
2

Answers
2

Best Answers
2

• Vote Up 0 Vote Down

• Posted on - 07/24/2011
• Question Category: Misc Software

Answered By jeanne 5 points N/A #82942

Windows media player cannot find codec

There is a lot of issues relating on codecs for windows media player. The reliable thing to do is to use another media player to watch movies and listen to music. When I watch movies, I use VLC media player.

It supports almost all media type and the great thing about it is that it’s free. But if you really insist on playing your movies and music on Windows media player, then these are the steps to successfully play all types of media on windows media player.

First, download the latest codecs for windows media player and choose the correct codecs for your operating system. If you have a Windows 7 32-bit edition, then download the codecs for the specific operating system.

Second, always update your windows media player or better yet, download the latest windows media player available. Then lastly, clear your registry after uninstalling codec packages.

Some file won’t be deleted after even after you uninstalled the codec package. Here are some codec packages that you might find very useful.

• Shark007 windows codecs
• http://shark007.net/advanced.html
• DivX
• http://shark007.net/advanced.html
• K-Lite codec packs
• http://www.free-codecs.com//www.free-codecs.com/download/k_lite_codec_pack.htm

About jeanne

Questions
0

Answers
29

Best Answers
7

• Vote Up 0 Vote Down

• Posted on - 07/29/2011
• Question Category: Misc Software