Win 7 + Media Player 12 = "Server execution failed."

Just suddenly I've been unable to start up Windows Media Player 12 on Win 7. I click on the icon and get a small rotating circle which then quickly disappears. If I double click on say a AVI file I get a message stating "Server execution failed." This appears to be a long known problem on various Win 7 forums - but Microsoft are not issuing a 'fix.' Please does anyone have any tips for a 'fix' ? BTW video / audio files play OK in VLC, Media Player Classic and even Windows Live Movie Maker. Thank you.

 

Free alternatives include

WinAmp - great player for files and streaming

VLC - open source code player

Classic Media Player - simple and effective

RealPlayer - cpu heavy, can be slow, plays proprietary streaming

CJB.

 

Saw this problem on Technet, seems to be antivirus related. Try removing it temporarily to see if that fixes things.

 

Thank you. Actally I removed McAfee (using the special app.), and then installed MS Security Essentials. All was OK until a few days ago. However I will try and disable MSSE and see what happens.

Actually I may try and go back to a previous restore point. How do I do that please?

Thanks - Chris B.

 

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore

Use the above to choose a restore point (probably the one created when MSSE was installed) and follow the prompts.

 

Thank you for you help. But no such luck though. I read elsewhere that this 'bug' can be caused by a corrupted media library. So I deleted the video and music library folders and then recreated them. But even without any files in them Media Player didn't want to know. I would have thought that this problem might have been due to incompatible codecs - but as I said all the other players I have - VLC, Real, Classic Media, Live Movie Maker and WinAmp all work perfectly. Even Flash works OK (excepting the need to re-install it for IE8 after every reboot). Chris B.