Guide: How to uninstall/install Windows Media Player 9, 10, 11

[placebo]

PART ONE:

This thread is not a tutorial with step-by-step instructions but a guide with valuable hints. It is senseless trying to compose instructions because a tutorial would depend heavily on your system's initial state/condition, i.e. the history of your own installation and uninstallation attempts prior to following my step-by-step instructions. Hence no instructions are provided. Whatever i write in this thread, it refers to WindowsXP-sp3. I dont have Vista or Win7.

All you need to know (and the rest is your problem) is:
+ if you lost or deleted all winxp system restore points, no problem. you can uninstall your current working (or non-working) installation of WMP and re-install a working WMP version (same version or other). it IS possible.
+ system restore points are not needed in this guide
+ it is "impossible" nor any desirable to completely remove WMP such that, on your WinXP system, there is neither WMP9, WMP10 nor WMP11. but what you can do is uninstalling unwanted WMP versions such that the original WMP9 build is reinstated on your system the way it was shipped originally with WinXP-sp3.
+ a so-called rollback is an automatic uninstall procedure (Start >> Control Panel >> Software (Add or Remove Programs) >> enable option: Show Updates >> Currently installed programs and updates >> Remove: Windows Media Player)

.. which uninstalls your current WMP version (e.g. WMP10beta) and reinstalls the previous WMP version (e.g. WMP9.00.00.4510, instead of original WMP9). Afaik rollbacks are possible only from newer versions to older versions.
+ while it is possible to upgrade from an old WMP version to a newer WMP version, the installer wont let you install an older WMP version on/over/upon a newer WMP version. First you need to rollback to an even older version, for example you're on WMP11+ and went along the path WMP9 >> (updated to) WMP9+ >> (upgraded to) WMP10 >> (upgraded to) WMP11beta2 >> (updated to) WMP11+ and would like to install WMP10beta1, then your path is:
WMP11+ >> (uninstall KB-patches to) WMP11beta2 >> (rollback to) WMP10 >> (rollback to) WMP9+ >> (upgrade to) WMP10beta1.
+ Rollbacks might fail in rare cases but you can always generate the entry "Remove: Windows Media Player *.*" in the Add or Remove Programs dialogue (if the entry is missing) by reinstalling the same WMP version which is already on your system.
+ System Restore Points are created automatically by the WMP installer unless you deactivated the System Restore feature for drive C:\. Dont worry if there are no system restore points. The rollback procedure in addition to the manual deletion of *.DLL files is sufficient.
+ If system restore points and or rollbacks dont prove helpful to you for some known or unknown reason, then you can deracinate WMP9+, .., WMP11+ by deleting the key WMP *.DLL files:

• wmp.dll
• wmpdxm.dll
• wmpcore.dll
• wmvcore.dll (part of Windows Media Runtime and required for DRM-related actions, individualization, ..)
• wmploc.dll

The files might be difficult to delete during a Windows session, then boot your PC with MS DOS (diskette, bootCD, ..) and delete the files manually with the DEL command. It is possible to delete wmploc.dll and wmvcore.dll completely so that they dont reappear when you reboot the machine. If you fail to delete one or more of the 5 DLL's, then this is your problem. Not mine. And you lose, good-bye!
No, seriously. This is your problem. If you are too dumb to delete files from your system, then you are too dumb. Use Eraser (this works for sure, and also read How to delete files protected by TrustedInstaller or else use Cedric's Unlocker!) or call a RL friend of yours (a PC techie or Windows techie) and ask him for help with the Eraser installation! And dont bother me. I wont bother.
+ once you have deleted the above DLL's you can run the following command as is:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %SystemRoot%\inf\wmp.inf,Uninstall

this will uninstall remaining WMP dirt (incl. registry entries) from your system and try to reinstate the original WMP9 build automatically.
+ even if the command returns some error, you'll be able to install a fresh copy of your preferred WMP version
+ the newly installed WMP version will work now. If there's some error message, then check if all 5 files are present. The error message will result from the missing wmvcore.dll file. then google for "Windows Media Format Runtime", download it and install it. this will install the DLL file
+ Do you have any questions? Of course you do. Your problem. As i said these are guiding points and no step-by-step instructions. You have to try some or all of the points, reboot in between to your liking, and experiment.
+ if none of the above points solve your problem then google. Dont be ashamed to use google

last versions ("latest build") of Windows Media Player 9, 10, and 11

Download of original builds:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...s-media-player

How to get 9.00.00.4507?
1) install WMP9. WinXP-sp3 comes with 9.00.00.4503
2) then install KB973540 (wmp.dll, wmpdxm.dll: 2009-07-12, updates to v9.00.00.4507)
3) then install: KB2378111 (wmp.dll: 2010-08-26, updates to v9.00.00.4510)
4) feel free to install, too: KB978695 (wmvcore.dll: 2010-04-08, updates to v9.00.00.4509)

How to get 10.00.00.4074?
1) install WMP10. it installs v10.00.00.3802
2) then install KB973540 (wmp.dll, wmpdxm.dll: 2009-07-13, updates to v10.00.00.4074)
3) then install: KB2378111 (wmp.dll: 2010-08-25, updates to v10.00.00.4081)
4) feel free to install, too: KB978695 (wmvcore.dll: 2010-04-03, updates to v10.00.00.4078 if everything goes right, otherwise the installer would install v11.0.5721.5275 (see below) and the individualization webpage would crash lol)

How to get 11.0.5721.5280?
0) beta versions are:
wmvcore.dll: 11.0.5358.4827 (Beta 1, May 2006)
wmvcore.dll: 11.0.5705.5043 (Beta 2, August 2006)
wmvcore.dll: 11.0.5721.5145 (Beta 3, October 2006)
1) install WMP11. it installs Windows Media Runtime 11 (wmvcore.dll 11.0.5721.5262)
2) then install KB973540 (wmp.dll, wmpdxm.dll: 2009-07-13, updates to v11.0.5721.5268)
3) then install KB2378111 (wmp.dll: 2010-08-25, v11.0.5721.5280)
4) feel free to install, too: KB978695 (wmvcore.dll: 2010-04-06 v11.0.5721.5275)

You can open all *.exe files (WMP setup.exe, KB-patches) with WinRAR and peek into them: they are SFX CAB archives! And if you need WMP11beta2 for the FairUse4WM, then google. They cant be downloaded from Microsoft servers anymore, sorry!

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