Windows Media Player 12: How to permanently display the list pane

BP88, I also hate the whole Time Elapsed issue.

I started another thread on the list pane going away when you switch movies and a Microsoft REP told me it'll be looked into.

However, it's been a long while and I haven't seen any kind of feedback or hotfix for it.

I've got the same complaints as the guys above. Is Microsoft going to do anything about this? Why does WMP12 have such a hard time remembering settings? It shouldn't be hard. It should have an option that defaults to the last options/features/views you had last used. This has always been possible in previous versions of WMP until now. This is in fact my biggest complaint since upgrading to Win7.

The solution given by samitches does work as that only helps when no videos/music are playing. When the media starts playing, the list pane goes away. I'm tempted enough to switch to using Media Player Classic with the K-Lite codec pack which up to now I haven't had a new for because it seems WMP12 works just fine with most video formats now. This is such a shame.

And just to add, here's another feature that doesn't seem to work as it used to.

I like to watch how much time has elapsed out of the total length of the video that I'm watching. The time ticker is right next to the play button. Usually you can just single click it and it'll change from Time Elapsed to Time Left to Time Elapsed/Total Time. In WMP11, it would always stay in the last format that I had it in which was Time Elapsed/Total Time, but in WMP12 that setting won't stick. It always reverts back to Time Elapsed. Any idea how to make this feature save?

Click "Organize > Layout > Show List".  It displayed the list and came back after opening and closing WMP.  Hope that helps.

@ samitches , yes, and when you start playback? Does your WMP12 not switch from the 'Library'-mode to the 'Now Playing'-mode? Is the list still there when you fire up a video & switch between videos for instance? If you close WMP in the 'Now Playing'-mode, does it not start up in 'Library' again (unless you applied the '/prefetch:1 -> /Task NowPlaying' on your shortcuts)?

Of course, my list is also constantly present - in the 'Library'-mode. But that's not the issue since the application switches to the 'Now Playing'-mode with no mercy as soon as you start playback. And that's the place where most of us actually use WMP & it's also there we want to see the list without having to clickety-click it up again or go 'Library' between every damn switch.

A few personal notes

List needs to be configurable in the 'Now Playing'-mode ( pinned/unpinned/autohide/hover) . It's so simple, clear, usable & obvious I'm having a hard time figuring why it was at all removed/forgotten in WMP12 in the first place? The 'list' is a very prominent area that many people use often, in an application that is used often. There should be options to it.

Why the forced WMP 'Library' startup? - Would you like your TV to start up in some index-mode at every damned powerup without any reasonable option given to just perma-skip it & watch the broadcast already? Ok, yes, sometimes we also want & maybe even need access to the 'fluff-stuff'. But please be careful not to force feed every new, cool tech-thing & idea down our throats without the functionality being optional/configurable & user friendly.

Likely, many of us do not want to start up WMP in the 'Library' at all. I myself have no use for that mode, but instead want my player in a constant 'Now Playing' state. Thankfully, there is a workaround for that at least.

I don't use, or want to use WMP (Library) to "manage" my media. I'm not interested in heavy media-management, super-indexing, genre considerations, parental ratings, putting cool pink "stars" on my files or use some ad-infested media guide. I just want to play my files. Instantly. The less time I have to spend digging & sorting "stuff" in 'Library'-mode, the happier I become.

I want the raw, basic stuff of a player to work well - to be able to do fast & simple playback + tracking, throw in files from wherever, with as few distractions (clicks) in between switches as possible. Everything else just boils down to some sort of bloatware-functionality that slows the player down & makes it a clumsy application overall to work with. It should not become a time-consuming, tedious 'klick-feast' with every day use. Just look at the necessary steps in the post above from Vijay B that describes the process on how to create/manage a playlist. Then tell me how it can not be simpler?

Also, I agree with what bob331tf, JasonGoemaat & G80 wrote. Come on now Microsoft guys, wakey-wake & help us out here.

I dont think you can. I have the same problem. I have alot of music videos and I want to see the list while the video is playing.

The "problem" is only in this win7 wmv 12.

So I hope that microsoft have a solution for this because its very irritating.