Windows Media Player and Windows 10

Susan,

1  VLC does what you want, it is free & it works in Windows 10.  That will get you up & running whilst you chase the problems with Windows.  Some people prefer this player to the one included with Windows anyway.

2  "media player stopped working" - What do you mean / What happened when you tried / What error messages were there / What symptoms are there?

3  "the media does even appear as an app" - Windows media center is not included in Windows 10.  Only Windows media player is included in Windows 10.

4.1  If the problem is simply that you cannot find Windows media player then you can look in the right folder then double-click on the file to run Windows media player:

C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe

or [for 64 bit Windows]

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe

4.2  and, if you want to create a shortcut to it on your desktop, right-click in a blank area of the desktop, select New, select Shortcut and put this in its properties:

"C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1

or [for 64 bit Windows]

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1

I have not yet installed Windows 10 on my Windows 7 Sony Vaio, but by what I have read, I may have a problem with sound after doing such.  What I just read on the Microsoft website for the free upgrade to Windows 10 is that once you download it, you will no longer have Windows Media Center and that it is not available for Windows 10.  Microsoft says that there is a free app for playing DVDs that will automatically download with the first update after installation.  I hope that helps some of you having problems with this.  I do not know if this also applies to Media Player, specifically, or just Media Center.

Sorry, Try*3, I didn't mean to nest under your comment, but meant to make my own!  Dote! Lol

Hi J-Slick,

After installing Windows 10 over Windows 8.1, WMP was still there, but I haven't found Windows Media Center. The new apps have too few customization options, like everything else in Windows 10, and WMP playlists cannot be converted. WMP does (for the most part) run in win10.

Having used Classic Shell (freeware to make 8&10 look more like 7) in Windows 8.1, I immediately installed it in Win10, then found WMP under Programs/System Accessories. 

Just FYI - I wish someone had warned me of all the Windows 7 programs and customization options that would be lost.  If you prefer your programs and options to the apps, hold off on 10 as long as possible. I wish I had, but the installation app had a mind of its own, which resulted in Windows 10 on my new PC.  I'm trying to keep it from installing on another machine, but it seems to be a losing battle.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you like Windows 10.

We also use Windows Media Player.  It would take many months to reload music CDs to play in the new Windows 10 music app if it does not play some of the older file types.  Have you had a problem playing older files?  (Was told everything had to be reloaded for 10, and the one day Win10 was running, music only played in WMP)

Does anyone know a shortcut for uploading CD music to a hard drive?  Or a way to convert file types without losing music quality?  (ITunes can do a few, but I don't know a way to do it for Windows files.)

1. Insert CD/DVD/BD-DVD into drive which accepts that format
2. Open CMD prompt from Start Menu
3. Move to folder where you want to copy to:

[Example]

CD C:\users"YOUR USERNAME"\Music"Your Folder"

4. Enter this command:   Replace "Your CD/DVD/BD-DVD" with device you are copying from

xcopy "Your CD/DVD/BD-DVD" drive letter, followed by a colon: [:}, a backslash [], and an astarisch [*}, a dot[.], and close with an astereich [*], followed by {Enter]

Replace "Your CD/DVD/BD-DVD" with device you are copying from

NOTE: Remove all quote marks

Or, just open the drive in Explorer, bring down the Ribbon, select the files you wish to copy, click on "Move" in the Ribbon, and direct your files to another folder or another drive.

No need for Shortcuts.  Windows has more than enough tools to accomplish your purposes easil;y.

Donald