Browser won't open .wmv attachments

When someone sends me an e-mail with an attachment in the .wmv format and I click on it, Windows Media Player opens but then shows this:

WMP's Error Center shows this:

I tried changing the Helper Applications settings, first with Real Player and then with QuickTime. Neither worked and both result in that first error message. I can open the file if I've first saved it to disk, so there's nothing wrong with the file. Is there a workaround that will get a .wmv attachment to open in the browser?

 

BOBBO--Is this something recent?
You have to use WMP version 8 or above to be able to play .wmv files using WMP.
See this reference
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/9series/playererrors.aspx
Have you associated WMP with .wmv files?
If the above does not help, there are work arounds while you search for a real solution, like saving the file to your hard drive and then playing it using WMP. Also you could download Media Player Classic and use it.
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/media_player_classic.cfm

 

Welshjim: Thanks for posting.

I'm running WMP version 10.00, so that's not the problem. I believe I have it associated correctly, and I also have Real Player (version 10.5) and have it associated in a way I believe is correct. Neither wants to wake up and help while the file is still an e-mail attachment. Saving the file to disk and then playing it from there is what I've been having to do. I'm hoping there's a way to configure something so the file will open and run without having to do that, though. Or won't WMP files work within a browser, like the WMP Error Center says: "Windows Media Player cannot be used as a browser." (That quote comes from the bottom of the explanation when I get the initial error message, C00D11BB: Cannot play the file)

 

BOBBO--Did you try the fix for error message C00D11BB in the reference
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/9series/playererrors.aspx ?
And try Media Classic Player, if nothing else works.

 

Welshjim: Hi again. Here's the entirety of the error fix explanation:

Quite a bit of that doesn't seem to apply to my case. The .wmv files in question aren't a link or a URL or from a Web site. They're attachments to e-mail messages. The Player supports the extension when it's a file saved to disk but not when it's an attachment in an e-mail, so the protocol part wouldn't seem to apply, either. Is Media Classic Player any more likely to work under that circumstance than WMP or RP or QT is?

 

BOBBO--Got me.
Hope someone else can help. The issue of email attachments not playing in WMP or not opening in Acrobat Reader, etc., before saving to the hard drive, is one I have seen many times. Just cannot remember if there really is a fix other than to save (though in the back of my mind I seem to remember that some AV programs (like McAfee) or a firewall might be the problem).
I assume you have looked in WMP Tools|Options|File Types and made sure the .wmv box is checked.
It seems you have the right codecs if you can play the file after saving.

 

Yep, it's checked.

I'm obviously no expert on such things, but it mystifies me why WMP can play streaming videos on-line but can't open an e-mailed .wmv attachment. I would think the latter would be a lot simpler to do than the former. And its being able to open that same attachment after it's been saved to disk makes it even harder to figure out.

If it can't be done, then it can't be done. But it sure seems to be it ought to be do-able. Anyone else have any bright ideas?

 

Hi,

I know what you mean Windows Media Player did that to me also. I use Winamp now as my default player to play wmv ect. Never had a problem using that one. I use Winamp 5.24, you can get it at

http://www.winamp.com/

Wisegal

 

wisegal: Thanks for joining in.

I've never used Winamp, mostly because it used to have a terrible reputation for being all sorts of trouble. Is that a thing of the past now?

I assume from your mentioning Winamp here that it runs e-mail attachments directly from the browser?

 

BOBO

If someone sends me a file that Window Media Player would open and didn't most of the time. I download Winamp and made it my default and I've never had a problem with it opening files at all. I had Window Media Player 10 and had problems with it since the beging. I uninstalled it yesterday and it rolled it back to version 8. Don't know if 8 works yet haven't tried it. I like Winamp myself to watch videos and music. I do like WMP for ripping CD's though.

that's just how I feel.

Wisegal