Indications of Windows Media Player Cannot Play the File Error
You may have encountered the “Windows media player cannot play the file” or “Windows Media encountered a problem while playing the file” error message.
Sometimes, the same or similar errors may be displayed as error codes such as Error 8004022F, Error 80040265, Error 80040255, or Error 8007000D.
If you are unable to play your media file and face the same or similar scenarios, this article is for you, let us try to understand the reasons behind this.
Why Windows Media Player Cannot play the file?
A few reasons are listed below that cause Windows Media Player cannot play the file error:
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- When Windows Media Player codec does not support the file format or codec of the file to be played
- The Windows Media Player missing essential files
- Severely damaged or corrupted media files
- When Windows Media has not installed the required codec
This can occur with any format of video files like MP4, MOV, AVI, and other formats. If you encounter any issues with MP4, fix the MP4 video files by clicking on the link.
Do not worry! irrespective of the causes that create the problem in the Windows media player to open the file, you can easily fix the error just by following the given DIY methods.
6 DIY Methods to Solve Windows Media Cannot play the file
To resolve this Windows Media Player issue, try out all the described methods in order and verify if the error persists after working on each method.
Method 1: Verify That Windows Media Player Supports the File Format You Are Using
File formats that are supported by Windows Media Player are:
- Windows Media formats File name extensions: .asf, .asx, .avi, .wav, .wax, .wma, .wm, .wmv files.
- Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) File name extensions: m3u, mp2v, .mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpe, mpv2
- Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) File name extensions: .mid, midi, .rmi
- Apple QuickTime, Macintosh AIFF Resource File name extensions: .qt, .aif, .aifc, .aiff, .mov
- Unix File name extensions: .au, .snd
Note: Windows Media Player supports files created with Apple QuickTime versions 1 and 2. Windows Media Player doesn’t support the .ra, .rm, and .ram file formats.
Method 2: Reinstall Windows Media Player
Reinstalling the application solves the issue at times. Follow the below steps to uninstall Windows media player:
- Go to Control Panel, and select Programs.
- Click on the Add or Remove Programs, from the list of installed programs, click on Windows media player, and select Remove to uninstall.
- Now, Restart the computer
- Go to the Microsoft website and download the latest version of Windows media player.
- Install the new version of the Windows media player and check if the media file is playing and still the error persists.
If you still encounter the error Windows media player cannot play the file, try fixing it using DirectX explained in the next method.
Method 3: Reinstall the Latest Version of Microsoft DirectX
DirectX is a set of Windows components that allows software to work directly with your video and audio hardware.
The DxDiag tool reports detailed information about the DirectX components and drivers installed on your system and can be used.
- Go to Start, type dxdiag in the Search box, and then press Enter.
- Tap or click on dxdiag from the results.
- Check the DirectX Version on the first page of the report in the System Information section.
Check if you are using the latest version of DirectX. If it is outdated, reinstall the latest version with Window’s new update. There is no other way to update the DirectX application.
Method 4: System Restore
If Windows Media Player stopped working after the latest Windows update, you can easily verify it using System Restore.
- Click the Start button and type system restore.
- Go to the System Properties pane, select System Restore
- Follow the prompts to select the restore point just before the updates trigger the problem. Then run the system restore process. This process may take a while to complete.
- After your system is restored to the earlier configuration, check to see whether Windows Media Player runs correctly again or encounters the same error message again.
You can make use of this method only if you have created a restore point earlier. If you have no restore point created, this method doesn’t work. You can try fixing the error using the following method.
Method 5: Use the proper codec for the media files
Although the Windows media player supports most of the file formats, the media files don’t play if there is no supported codec for them. Download the required codec by visiting the Microsoft website and installing it on your computer.
Now restart the Windows media player and try playing the media file if you still have trouble playing the media file proceed to the next solution.
Method 6: Re-register Some DLL Files
To fix the Windows media player cannot play the file, you can try re-registering some DLL files. Follow the steps given below:
Step 1: In the search bar type “cmd” -> right-click on “Command Prompt” to select Run as “administrator”
Step 2: Now type the commands mentioned below one after the other and press Enter
- regsvr32 vbscript.dll
- regsvr32 jscript.dll
- regsvr32 wmp.dll
Step 3: After entering the command, exit the command prompt and restart the system. Now verify if the “WMP not working” issue has been fixed or not.
Verify and Repair Damaged File
If you have tried all the above-mentioned methods to fix the Windows Media Player error and still encountering the issue, this must be due to damaged or corrupt video files.
To verify if the video file is corrupt, try playing a different video file of saved format. If you figure out that the video is corrupt or damaged, it is recommended to use a safe and secure video repair tool to fix corrupt or damaged video files.
SFWare video repair tool is the most recommended tool designed to repair MOV, MP4, MPEG, M4V, AVI, DivX, XviD, and many other file formats easily. The tool has a built-in read-only mechanism and works on the copy of the file keeping the integrity of the original video file. Download the tool now and repair your unplayable video files.
Fix Video Not Playing on WMP using SFWare
To fix the error Media player cannot play the file in 3 simple steps-
1: Download, install, and open SFWare Data Recovery.
2: Click on the Add File button to import corrupted video file.
3: The tool may ask you to provide a reference file taken on the same camera.
4: The tool will start the corrupt video repair process.
5: After the repair, Use the Preview option to have a quick look at the repaired file.
6: Click the Save button and select the location to save the repaired video.
Conclusion:
All the above-mentioned methods should help you fix the Windows Media Player error. If the error is due to a damaged or corrupt video file, you can make use of a professional video repair tool that can help you repair video files of formats like. MOV, MP4, AVI, etc.
If you have resolved the error Windows Media Player cannot play the file with the help of this article, do share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What are the Indications of Windows Media Player Cannot Play the File Error?
Some of the frequent error indications that you might have encountered while playing videos in a Windows media player are as mentioned below:
Error 8004022F: Invalid File Format.
Error 80040265: Cannot playback the file. The format is not supported.
Error 80040255: Cannot playback the video stream, no suitable decompressor could be found.
Error 8007000D: Cannot open. Please verify that the path and filename are correct and try again.
Q2: What are the reasons why Windows Media Player Cannot Play the File Error?
Here are a few common reasons why you may be unable to play your file using Windows media player-
- Unsupported file format
- Missing or Corrupt Codecs
- Corrupted Media File
- Outdated Windows Media Player
- File Permissions or Restrictions
- Incorrect File Path\
- Audio/Video Hardware Issues
- Corrupted Windows Media Player Configuration
Q3: How to Fix Windows Media Cannot play the file issue?
You may use the following methods to resolve the Windows Media Cannot play the file issue-
- Reinstall Windows Media Player
- Reinstall the Latest Version of Microsoft DirectX
- Use System Restore to revert to the previous Windows Updated
- Use the proper codec for the media files
- Re-register Some DLL Files
- Repair Video file with professional software
