Windows Media Player won't install

Hello,
My work computer does not have Windows Media Player installed...so i went to Microsoft and attempted to install Windows Media Player 10....

After the download I attempted to install the WP 10 and a window popped up that said the WP 10 was not compatable with my OS ...I have XP Pro....

I have XP Home on my home computer and had no problem upgrading.
I thought maybe have to install a previous version then upgrade...so I downloaded the WP 7 and the same message appeared when I attempted to install that version....any ideas what is wrong???

 

have to ask - is this a VALID copy of xp on the machine in question?

have u installed the 'genuine validation' activex control and run it's proceedure? i'm guessing that this may be the issue here. i'm fairly sure u need to validate u'r copy in short.

 

Tony may be right about MP10. As for ver.7 not installing, if memory serves me correctly, XP comes with MP8. Ver. 7 is for older versions of windows.

 

Windows Media Player 9 is an integral part of WinXP and is automatically installed. If you cannot get it installed, try this alternative http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm. It has tons of codecs to play any file you can throw at it and consumes much less resources than WMP but is not very pretty to look at.

 

It may have been 9 that came with XP. Thought I had to upgrade to it though. Doesn't matter I guess. V7 is still out.

 

Tony T....I am confused........do you mean go to control panel ,then add remove programs? Went there and could not find windows setup....
Tried to type add-remove programs\windows setup..... in SEARCH and RUN and came up empty...

I seem to be missing a step...

I did type Windows Media Player in the RUN and a registry that contained windows media player was shown....but it had no values I right clicked and clicked on Explore but nothing like you described appeared.
it seems the Windows Media Player on my work machine is Windows Media Player version2....
How can this be??? isn't that like a Windows 95 type version????

Zander.....I typed your instructions in the SEARCH.....Two identical Windows Media Players icon appeared in the folder that came up.....

I opened both files and the Windows Media Player 2 ( box type ) appeared for each...

Does this mean I have two seperate Windows Media Player downloads???

 

Tony T............Thank you for the printable link.....my next work day is Saturday so I will do that then and post the results....looks like a very logical solution....Thank You

 

Tony T.........
Well it is saturday and I am on my work computer and I went to add/remove on the side bar of the add/ remove section and there is no Windows media Player listed in the window that pops up when I click on the box......
I know that there is a version somewhere but it is not showing up where it should according to the link you sent me.....Does it matter that this is a laptop???

Here is the message I get every time I attempt to open/run the Media Player 10 download...............

This version of Windows Media Technologies is incompatible with this version of Windows. For more information, view the information at the Microsoft web site.

The laptops running Windows XP Pro.............but somehow the Windows Media player setup keeps stating this message.........

 

It's probably hidden. If it is, you can unhide it by editing a file named sysoc.ini. You'll find it in your windows\inf folder. First back the file up and then open it in notepad. Look for a line the same as the following.

Code:

WMPOCM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wmpocm.inf,hide,7

If it's there and it has the word hide in it, remove hide leaving both commas. When you're done it should look like this.

Code:

WMPOCM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wmpocm.inf,,7

Then save the changes to the file and then see if Media Player shows up in add>remove.

Note, the number 7 at the end of the string may be a different number in yours. If yours is different, leave it the way it is.

 

Zander............. Thank you for the amazingly detailed information........I have printed it out and will follow it specifically when I work again in 2 weeks.....I will post the results right after ....
Wow!!! I couldn't even imagine how you came by your knowledge.....Your understanding of computer problems/fixes is nothing short of genius......
Thanks for taking the time to share the information with me.....

 

Please come in a Q.

 

I don't work in an area with the work computer but around every 2 weeks or so.

But yes........I am poor and it is anything but fun for me.....

However, that said, in the past I had paid for help thru certain sites and not once did I receive any solutions to my problems.
I found this site by way of a typographical error and have gotten every problem solved thru great friendly discussiosn and instructions from everyone involved.....The people here have saved my computer many time from certain death and major problems....
When I catch up on my back bills I am going to pay for a lifetime contributing member status, because this is the most helpful, worthwhile site on the Internet....and worth every hard earned penny.

 

OK I did get to spend some time with the work computer today and tried to find it thru the windows\inf folder....I did find windows\inf.........however on this computer there is no sysoc.ini file in the windows\inf folder...

So I am back to square one....

Funny thing is,,,,, when I do a folder search for Windows media player a folder comes up with 2 Windows Media Players version 6.4.09.1130...

Yet when I even try to upgrade to WPM 10 I get the message that there is a technical issue and my OS does not accept this newer version....I don't get it.......

 

OOPS! I made a typo there. It should be sysoc.inf, not .ini. Have you checked to see if you have that one? It has to be there. Also, it may be hidden. Mines not but I may have removed the attribute from it long ago. I don't really know for sure. If you can't find it, open any folder, click tools>folder options>view and tick the line that says show hidden files and folders. Also, uncheck the line that says hide extensions for known file types. If it still doesn't show up, check to see if you have a winnt folder with an inf subfolder. The winnt folder would be in the root of your c: drive or whatever drive you have windows installed to.

 

Well....................................................I tried sysoc.inf and there is no folder either.....as the results stated there was no folder to disply....

I did check and uncheck the boxes you recommended in the view options under any folder.............still no windows media player listed anywhere EXCEPT when I type windows media player in the search box in then search folders section....