Uninstalling WMP 9.0 Completely

[cdanteek]

Fairly recent, could be useful to someone.

 

http://erpman1.tripod.com/current/wmp9del.htm

 

 

Uninstalling Windows Media Player 9.0 Completely under Win98, 2000, ME & XP pre-SP2:

Updated: Monday April 10, 2006

WARNING: Do NOT attempt to uninstall Windows Media Player 9 if you have Service Pack 2 installed

under Windows XP. This tip will only work for users who are using the original, SP1 or SP1a version

of WinXP. If you want to remove WMP9 under WinXP SP2, just uninstall SP2. Note that the tips mentioned

here can cause loss of personal settings & playlist files for WMP9, so backup your WMP license files,

personal user settings & playlist files before performing the WMP9 removal process if you want to save them.

AND these tips are not for the 64-bit editions of Windows XP and all editions of Windows Server 2003.

Follow the directions very carefully. Also, do NOT FOLLOW THESE TIPS IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS

MEDIA PLAYER 10 INSTALLED! The tips are for WMP9 ONLY, NOT for WMP 10!

 

 

For those using Win98 or WinME run the following command in Run dialog box:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\INF\wmp.inf,Uninstall

Then click Yes to continue & restart the computer.

 

For those using Win2000 or WinXP orig. or SP1 run the following command in Run dialog box:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\INF\wmp.inf,Uninstall.NT

Then click Yes to continue & restart the computer. Win2000 users should note that the default Windows

folder is the WinNT folder instead of Windows; look for the wmp.inf file in the 'C:\WinNT\INF' folder.

 

Note that running the command to 'uninstall' WMP9 does NOT remove all the files that came with the

WMP9 setup package. The uninstaller only removes the essential files required to run WMP9 and it does

not remove some of its registry entries.

After rebooting delete the following files from the following folders---

 

from the 'c:\windows\system\catroot\{--GUID--}' folder if using Win98/WinME

from the 'c:\winnt\system32\catroot\{--GUID--}' folder if using Win2000

from the 'c:\windows\system32\catroot\{--GUID--}' folder if using WinXP

where {--GUID--} is the random GUID number of your machine; delete the following:

------------

drm.cat setup_wm.cat WMFSDK.cat wmdm.cat wmp.cat

------------

(on certain versions of Windows some of the above files may already be deleted

so just delete the remaining files)

 

from the 'C:\Windows\Inf' or 'C:\WinNT\Inf' folder delete the following:

------------

drm.inf skins.inf unregmp2.exe wmdm.inf WMFSDK.inf wmp.inf

------------

(in WinXP, you may be prompted to insert your XP CD so that it can restore

its version of the unregmp2.exe file; in Win98se, 2000 & ME some of the

above files may already be deleted so remove the remaining files)

 

from the 'c:\program files\windows media player' folder delete the following:

------------

npdrmv2.dll npdrmv2.zip npwmsdrm.dll pidgen.dll setup_wm.exe wmpband.dll wmplayer.exe

------------

(in WinXP, you may be prompted to insert your XP CD so that it can restore the npdrmv2.dll, npwmsdrm.dll,

setup_wm.exe & wmplayer.exe files; if you have Mozilla, Netscape, Opera or Firefox web browser

installed delete the npdrmv2.dll, npdrmv2.zip, npdsplay.dll & npwmsdrm.dll files from the browser's

Plugins folder)

 

and finally delete the following files from your Windows System folder:

c:\windows\system\ if using Win98/WinME

c:\winnt\system32\ if using Win2000

c:\windows\system32\ if using WinXP

------------

asferror.dll blackbox.dll cewmdm.dll drmclien.dll drmstor.dll drmv2clt.dll laprxy.dll

logagent.exe mp43dmod.dll mpg4dmod.dll mp4sdmod.dll msnetobj.dll mspmsnsv.dll mspmsp.dll

msscp.dll mswmdm.dll qasf.dll wmadmod.dll wmadmoe.dll wmasf.dll wmdmlog.dll wmdmps.dll

wmerror.dll wmidx.dll wmnetmgr.dll wmp.ocx wmpasf.dll wmpcd.dll wmpcore.dll wmploc.dll

wmpshell.dll wmpui.dll wmsdmod.dll wmsdmoe2.dll wmspdmod.dll wmspdmoe.dll wmvcore.dll

wmvdmod.dll wmvdmoe2.dll

------------

(if using WinXP, insert your XP CD to restore many of the WMP files that were stored

in the system folder)

 

Now open registry editor (regedit.exe) and delete the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Media

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer

 

Open Windows Explorer and delete the following folders if using Win98se or WinME and you don't want

to keep the user settings stored in the following folders:

'C:\WINDOWS\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index'

'C:\WINDOWS\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player'

'C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player'

If using Win2000, look in the WINNT folder instead of the WINDOWS folder and follow the above directions.

If using WinXP, look in the 'Documents and Settings' folder instead of the Windows folder

(ex. 'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player'). Now delete

the Media Index & Media Player folders.

If user profiles are installed, delete the following folder (where 'username' is the name of the currently

logged on user:

'C:\WINDOWS\Profiles\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for Win98se/WinME)

'C:\WINNT\Profiles\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for Win2000)

'C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player' (for WinXP)

 

Also delete the wmsetup.log, WMSysPr9.prx & WMSysPrx.prx files from the Windows or WinNT folder.

Then delete the DRM folder from the Windows or WinNT folder. Then reboot and you're all done.

 

Now you can install an older version of WMP like WMP 7.1 under Win98, 2000 or ME. Just simply

download & run the WMP 7.1 installer with the /Q switch to quietly install all the Media Player components.

You may need to install or re-install WMP 7.1 twice [once with the /Q switch and then run it normally but

choose the option to Reinstall All Components; this will re-install all WMP files and reset registry settings].

You may also want to download & install ALL of the Windows Media Codecs packages so that you can

open new Windows Media Audio & Video files in WMP 7.1 or WMP 6.4. Get the WM codecs packages

listed at my IE/WMP Updates page. To fully restore WMP 8 for WinXP run the System File Checker tool

with the /scannow switch from the Command Prompt or Run dialog box [ex. sfc /scannow], insert your

WinXP CD and when the SFC tool is done restoring all the WMP8 files from the XP cd, restart the computer.

Then extract the wmp.inf file from the wmp.in_ file from your XP cd-rom and place the wmp.inf file into the

'c:\windows\inf' folder (overwrite if necessary). Extract the wmplayer.chm file from the wmplayer.ch_ file

from the XP CD and place the wmplayer.chm file into the 'c:\windows\help' folder (overwrite if necessary).

 

Then run the following commands in the Run dialog box:

rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection InstallWMP64 132 c:\windows\inf\mplayer2.inf

(direct the installer to the I386 folder of your XP cd-rom)

 

rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection InstallWMP7 132 c:\windows\inf\wmp.inf

(direct the installer to the I386 folder of your XP cd-rom)

 

Now restart the computer and test out Windows Media Player 8. If WMP8 loads, great. If not and you get

an error message trying to run WMP8, check to see if all the Media Player 8 files have been restored by

WinXP [some files may still be missing]. Look in the following folders for the essential files:

 

'c:\program files\windows media player'

------------

npdrmv2.dll npwmsdrm.dll setup_wm.exe wmplayer.exe wmpvis.dll

------------

 

'c:\windows\system32'

------------

asferror.dll asfsipc.dll blackbox.dll cewmdm.dll drmclien.dll drmstor.dll drmv2clt.dll laprxy.dll

logagent.exe mpg4dmod.dll msnetobj.dll mspmsp.dll mspmspsv.dll msscp.dll mswmdm.dll

qasf.dll wmadmod.dll wmadmoe.dll wmasf.dll wmdmlog.dll wmdmps.dll wmerror.dll wmidx.ocx

wmnetmgr.dll wmp.ocx wmpcd.dll wmpcore.dll wmploc.dll wmpshell.dll wmpstub.exe wmpui.dll

wmsdmod.dll wmsdmoe.dll wmstream.dll wmvcore.dll wmv8dmod.dll wmvdmod.dll wmvdmoe.dll

------------

 

If some of the files mentioned above are missing or in the wrong version, gather them from your Windows XP

cd-rom, overwrite the files if necessary, run the mplayer2.inf & wmp.inf Install commands again from the

Run dialog box and restart the computer & run WMP8 again. It should work for sure. Then you can install

updated WM Codecs packs so you can play Media Player files in newer formats in WMP8.

 

Note: You can also use the tips above to remove WMP9 build 3250 after installing updated WMP9

files from XP SP2 over the original WMP9 package; to install the WMP9 files from XP SP2 onto

Win98se/WinME, see Axcel216's Win98 Tips & Secrets part 5 page. You must have at least 2 computers

[one using XP, the other using Win98se or WinME] to perform the tip.

[REDWAGON]

Holy Moley cdanteek, I was lucky to get back to WMP 9, from WMP 10, let alone wanting to remove version 9. That looks like a lot of work. It wouldn't work for me anyway as I have XP (SP2) on all my computers. Anyway, that's some good information should anyone want to get rid of ver. 9.

 

Frank.....

[lynn98109]

I'm glad I took the shortcut and never installed the misbegotten piece of software.

 

Lynn

[Brendon]

Warning! Don't step in the exhaust!

[cdanteek]

While driving in Iowa I approached a Amish carriage. The owner of the carriage had a sense of humor, attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign.

 

 

 

Warning! Don't step in the exhaust!

 

 

cdanteek

[REDWAGON]

Now that's a good one !!!

 

Frank....