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

Posted by: Chris123NT

Published on: June 28th, 2009 at 9:33 PM

Tagged with , , , ,

Posted in Tips and Tricks, Windows 7

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15 Responses to 'Unlock WMP x64 in Windows 7 x64'

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  1. June 29, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    blackroseMD1:

    Awesome, thanks Chris. It’s baffling how Microsoft didn’t do this in the first place.

  2. 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

  3. 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?

  4. June 29, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    chris k:

    7201, yep ran as administrator, in fact im using teh administrator account so yeah :S

  5. 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.

  6. 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 :)

  7. 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)

  8. July 1, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    marius:

    plugins like the last.fm and wlm-status-plugin won’t work with the x64 wmp :/

  9. July 1, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Kristan Kenney:

    32-bit plug-ins will not work with 64-bit applications, regardless of what they are.

  10. July 2, 2009 at 2:39 am

    John Smith:

    Nice, good job Chris.

  11. 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?

  12. 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??

  13. July 8, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    James:

    @Elric what about MKV?

  14. 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%

  15. July 11, 2009 at 1:19 am

    Justyn:

    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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