Links will not open or play online .wmv files

Anonymous
2009-06-02T21:32:56+00:00

IE8 won't play WMV video files from links

With IE8, under Windows7 RC, in a webpage there is a link such as: http://.../file.wmv

If I click on it, an error page immediately appears, saying: Internet explorer cannot display the webpage.

Further description of the error is about 'internet connectivity lost', or 'error in link' etc..

But if I just right click on the linkand 'save as', the wmv file downloads, get saved, and opens and play flawlessly in WMP by default.

The system just has WMP as player, configured with all defaults, I double checked.

I have identical problem on another machine with IE8 on Vista, with Divx and VLC Player installed (but all defaults to WMP)

I found reports of similar problems on the internet, but really no true identification and solution of this problem (just the usual bunch of 'use firefox!' or 'download winamp!' comments..)

Any help here?

THANKS!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2009-06-12T07:58:21+00:00

fix: open notepad paste these lines in:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.avi]

@="WMP11.AssocFile.AVI"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.asf]

@="WMP11.AssocFile.ASF"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.wmv]

@="WMP11.AssocFile.WMV"

save file to your desktop 'filename'.reg -- make sure you change it from saving as a .txt file to a "." file open the file, agree to adjust registry, open your movies

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Anonymous
2009-06-06T17:59:03+00:00

Hello, Corry

Does this affect all sites or just a certain one?

If it’s just a certain website, there may be a server side error.

You may also be able to find others with a similar problem on the Windows 7 Support Forums: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/w7itpro

David

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-08-21T07:08:45+00:00

    Yes, I have VLC player installed.

    I'm going to try the link in Gregory Beamer's post, but so far, .mpg files still have this problem for me.  Everything else seems to be fixed though...

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-08-16T16:41:16+00:00

    I had the same problem, also running IE8. I went in to the registry and looked at this spot as suggested before: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.wmv]

    And even though my Microsoft Media Player was supposedly setup as the default player, this registry location was pointing to the VLC 1.0.1 player. I unstinalled the VLC player and everything started to work immediately without even restarting the computer.

    I do like the VLC player though, so going to try to install it again and see if it can be installed without causing these issues. I know the VLC player is a common player out there, so would be interesting to hear if any of you have it as well?

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-08-12T01:42:34+00:00

    I took this a step farther and found other media links that get whacked. The post is found at http://bit.ly/1cBPw5.

    Peace and Grace,

    Greg

    Twitter: @gbworld

    Blog: http://gregorybeamer.spaces.live.com

    Think outside the box

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