Unlock WMP x64 in Windows 7 x64
As many of you know, I published an article a few years back telling everyone how to make WMP x64 the default in Windows Vista x64. I had hoped at that time that Microsoft would have the sense to make the x64 player the default one in Windows 7.
Well not only did they fail to see why the 64 bit player should be the default, they also locked the user’s ability to switch the default player. They locked the registry keys that the old Vista command altered. Their excuse for this is that it “adds security” so that malicious code cannot modify the WMP play/enqueue commands. Fine, I can buy that, but then alter the tool so that it can change those keys. Well apparently this wasn’t on the timetable, and I decided to find a way around this, because after all, who wants to have to install TWO sets of codecs to watch stuff in Media Player (x86 player used by default) and also watch stuff in Media Center (which is x64).
So for those of you who recognize that the 64 bit media player SHOULD be the default in Windows 7, I have made a script with the help of Kristan Kenney that automates the entire process for you. It unlocks the necessary registry keys, and then uses the old vista command to make the switch. We have also included a script that allows you to switch back to the 32 bit player if you choose to do so.
So Microsoft, specifically the WMP team, you guys didn’t want to fix it, so we did it for you. Now users can have some consistency in their 64 bit user experience.
NOTE: After changing the default Media Player to x64, remove the media player shortcut from the taskbar, start media player via the start menu and then re-pin it. If you don’t do this you will see 2 WMP icons on your taskbar.
If anyone has any other questions or comments, either post in the comments section or contact me privately and I will answer them.
Download: Windows Media Player x64 Switch Script
44 Responses to 'Unlock WMP x64 in Windows 7 x64'
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Awesome, thanks Chris. It’s baffling how Microsoft didn’t do this in the first place.
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June 29, 2009 at 5:33 pm
chris k:
This is what i have been waiting for, i was wondering why after following the vista method, files still would only open in 32 bit media player.
Unfortunately this didnt work for me for some reason, not sure why but hopefully on my next clean install it will
I appreciate the hard work you guys put into this and really hope it works for me, i hate having to install 32 and 64 bit filters
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June 29, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Chris123NT:
chris k,
Did you run the cmd file as an Administrator? If so, what build are you running?
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June 29, 2009 at 5:59 pm
chris k:
7201, yep ran as administrator, in fact im using teh administrator account so yeah :S
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June 29, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Chris123NT:
Hrmm interesting. I tested this on 7100, 7201, 7229, and 7232 and it worked on all of them.
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June 30, 2009 at 2:32 am
chris k:
ok, hopefully it should work for me then when i clean install next, i might download 7232 and give it a shot on there
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June 30, 2009 at 2:49 am
chris k:
ok interesting.. its just mkv files that dont open in 64 bit wmp, everything else opens with 64 bit wmp, it must be due to the reg tweaks i used to try and enable mkv thumbnails (which didnt work… lol)
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July 1, 2009 at 7:02 pm
marius:
plugins like the last.fm and wlm-status-plugin won’t work with the x64 wmp :/
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July 1, 2009 at 11:26 pm
32-bit plug-ins will not work with 64-bit applications, regardless of what they are.
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July 2, 2009 at 2:39 am
John Smith:
Nice, good job Chris.
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July 6, 2009 at 2:13 pm
James:
Any benefit to doing this? I mean because of the codecs, and other things that just don’t work in x64 WMP?
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July 8, 2009 at 2:34 am
Elric:
@James. What codecs exactly not working in x64 WMP12?? I know DivX traditionally had issues with x64 Windows, but both DivX and Xvid codecs, but Win7 sees this rectified. The ONLY files it won’t play natively are those DivX files with the “.divx” file format
EDIT: actually, doing a manual file association though the “open” option in the right-click context menu, you can force WMP12 to play it… you just won’t get the usual thumbnail.
EDIT AGAIN: Better option… rename file etension from “.divx” to “.avi” and thumbnails work and no need for manual file-format accossiation. I’ve actually been thinking DivX Converter (part of DivX Pro) was dropping the AVI container (remember, AVI is actually a [i]container[/i] not a codec) for a direct file format. Changing the file extention proves otherwise… they for some reason jst want ppl to think that… possibly to create a dependancy on their [i]own[/i] player perhaps??
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July 8, 2009 at 9:42 pm
James:
@Elric what about MKV?
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July 9, 2009 at 3:49 am
PetSerAl:
This script work not completely correct becouse it replace %ProgramFiles(x86)% to %ProgramFiles%, but %ProgramFiles% means ‘C:\Program Files’ for x64 processes and ‘C:\Program Files (x86)’ for x32 processes, so this means what x32 processes would launch x32 Media Player. I recomend to replace %ProgramFiles% to %ProgramW6432%
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Nice Chris, nice.
I will have to test this out when I get home from work (I know, working on a Saturday evening is crazy, right?).
I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully I can find all related x64 codecs (haven’t use lappy for media playback in awhile).
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February 18, 2010 at 10:20 am
Tom:
This script has no effect because it doesn’t change the values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe to the 64-bit build.
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March 17, 2010 at 10:26 am
Zanozus:
Script doesn’t work.
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April 7, 2010 at 3:57 am
Elle233:
Script works. I just ran it 5minutes ago. You have to run script as Administrator for it to work
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April 7, 2010 at 5:28 am
Ian:
Hello Thanks for all your hard work and giving us what M/S should have in the 1st place! I am a bit of a tech newbie and not sure what files I need to use in the download.
is it just the application, x64 reg entries and the shortcut or do I need to use the x86 and 32bit shortcut as well? or am I guessing the inclusion of the 32bit applications are there if I ever want to switch back? thanks again -
April 7, 2010 at 10:11 am
João:
How do I know that it works? I’ve changed the script becouse the paths weren’t signed correctly. Then, the setACL.exe could be executed. But, the final question is: How do I realize that is the x64 version of Windows Media Player? I’ll be pleased if the answer will be sent to my email, otherwise, I come back here to check. Thanks!
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April 9, 2010 at 9:28 am
ianfav:
Becareful using these scripts, it will stop/break CD/DVD burning from WMP. This could be the reason why WMPx86 is still the default in Win 7 as it seems WMPx64 does not fully support burning media.
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April 11, 2010 at 6:40 pm
João:
I’m cool about burning media. I’m not using WMP.
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Script works.Thank you
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April 18, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Ken:
After loading/unloading 64 bit flac codec a number of times because it seemed not to work, I found this thread… thanks. Joao, when WMP is running go to help>about and click on Technical Support Info. The Architecture for 64bit is amd64. If 32bit is running it will read X86. There doesn’t seem to be any other difference in the info. Why do we need this? If you click on a wav file the 32bit version opens. Thanks again.
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April 22, 2010 at 1:11 pm
brandub:
thank you so much! I thought I tried everything… I cant believe they would make it so difficult?
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May 1, 2010 at 8:19 am
John:
In Win 7′s WMP, I can play about 5 vids then I get the “server Execution Failed”. In the WMP options, I could not find anything to disable the network sharing service as you suggested. Could you explain what I’m missing. I downloaded your WMP X64 switch script, have not unzipped yet and don’t know if that would fix my problem. Also, I’m not sure I would know how to install the switch script.
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May 5, 2010 at 4:39 pm
jrf1009:
Installed Win 7 64 last week and have been having major problems with WMP 12. Installed your script today and it worked like a charm. Stupid Microsoft. Thanks much !
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May 7, 2010 at 5:36 am
AndyB:
thanks, this has been bugging me since trying to capture old video content to MPEG2, for some reason the 32bit wmplayer can’t handle the audio but 64bit can. Now at least I can play with the 64bit version as the default
Why does microsoft insist on shortcuts to both versions in the context menu?
PS: I hate codecs…
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May 9, 2010 at 12:01 pm
FMasic@hotmail.co.uk:
Defaults are fine, but file associations still load in WMP32.
None of them load in WMP64, apart from the original ones I got from the OGG codec pack. Fail. -
May 12, 2010 at 4:29 am
KC:
Thanks for your info Chris…
I need some help in loading the subtitle file(*.srt) in windows media player 12 in windows 7. the same file can be loaded in VLC player very easily, but I prefers to watch movie in WMP.
thanks in advance. -
May 17, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Donald:
I am hoping to have you help:
I run Win7 64Bit. 8GB RAM I installed the OS fresh about 4 months ago and am having problems ever since using WMP 12. I tried a few times to reinstall it and Media Center 4(?)
I use Turn on Turn off Windows Feature to check Windows Media Player and Media Center, but the install puts up a warning box stating Some programs could not be installed, asks for an OS reboot, goes through update, fails, shows WMP 12 link in Menu, I double click to launch and Win7 says WMP not installed correctly, takes me to a WMP download site and I get nowhere.
Any clue how I may install these two programs via NORMAL SETUP files?
Regards, Donald -
May 22, 2010 at 8:44 pm
John:
hey guys, nice work
one other question, does anyone knows why my media player 12 on win7, doesn’t let me aplly any other skin, besides the default one????
thanks
J -
June 6, 2010 at 7:32 pm
shanti:
this script does work. you have to run it as administrator even if you are already running an account with administrator privileges… cheers for your hard work chris!
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June 6, 2010 at 7:34 pm
shanti:
oh and if anyone has a database problem with wmp 12 in windows 7 (my albums weren’t showing up in my library) then this scrip wierdly managed to solve that too!
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June 7, 2010 at 8:25 pm
navossoc:
I made a few fixes to the batch…
http://rapidshare.com/files/396495011/WMP64.zip.html
MD5: 249403AB43061F51C226409A02D9CFE8They restore the original permission in the registry after changing to x86 or x64.
I made another fix too, the file wmp-x86.reg was missing the parameters…
Fixed it all!
[]‘s
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June 9, 2010 at 9:47 pm
INe:
I tried only fix from chris and it seems like nothing changed after I ran it as admin, double click on song would open it in wmp32 again. Then I saw two wmp’s to choose in mp3 defaults, choosing the second one opened song in wmp64, finally. I know it wasn’t there before, ’cause I tried to point to wmp64 folder, but with no luck.
For those who don’t know were to check which version of wmp is playing: right click on taskbar -> task manager -> processes.
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June 11, 2010 at 5:27 pm
navossoc:
Sorry about the rapidshare, i forgot about the 10 downloads limit!
http://rapidshare.com/files/397987862/WMP64.zip
MD5: 43a7a70c6bd54614b0387cc8bd4d6d5fThe hash has changed, I have added the shortcut link to this site again!
My fault…[]‘s
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July 8, 2010 at 5:12 am
Marc:
Thanks Chris,
Appreciate the fix.cheers
M -
Thanks for your sharing Chris,
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August 3, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Chris:
This script wouldn’t work for me. When I right-click and run “Set 64-bit as Default WMP.cmd” as administrator, the cmd.exe window pops up for a second (almost impossible to read it disappears so fast) and the only change that seems to have been made is that when I right-click on an .mp3 file and select “open with”, there are two listings for Windows Media Player. No matter which one I choose, task manager shows the 32 bit version running. Right-clicking and running the 32 script removes the second entry from my right-click menu.
After that failed, I noticed that navossoc made some fixes, so I tried his version. His works a little differently:
Right-clicking on “Set 64-bit as Default WMP.cmd” and running it as administrator opens up the cmd.exe window (and keeps it open) where it says, “This utility will unlock the permissions for Windows Media Player’s file associations and then set 64-bit WMP as the default player.
Press any key to continue . . .
I press a key to continue and it says:
Replacing permissions on registry keys . . .
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.Registering 64-bit Windows Media Player as default…
Restoring permissions on registry keys…
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
‘ setacl.exe’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.Done.
Press any key to continue…So, why isn’t setacl.exe not recognized on my machine?
Running this modified version once again places two instances of Windows Media Player in the right-click “open with” menu, and once again, no matter which of the two listed I choose, task manager shows it to be the 32 bit version.
I clicked Set 32-bit as Default WMP.cmd to (hopefully) restore my computer back to how it was before I tried both of these scripts.
Anyone know what’s going on?
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August 3, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Chris:
” So, why isn’t setacl.exe recognized on my machine? “, I mean.
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August 14, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Mazen:
thanks guys, this is just great, I have one question
should i remove any codec packs before or just install it over? -
August 27, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Loes:
Man I love you. After failing in downgrading to WMP 11 it wouldn’t start normally without an error and recently it wouldn’t even start at all, and it’s the most convenient way to manage the music on my mp3-player. But after switching it to 64-mode it worked perfectly! Thanks a lot! I even persisted in finding back this page to thank you for your great help. Cheers.
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September 2, 2010 at 12:53 pm
bero:
thx alot.. /wins !
June 29, 2009 at 1:47 pm
blackroseMD1: