[Maxaxle]

My current hard drive was intended to be in a laptop, testing equipment at my dad's workplace (he tests medical computers before they're OK'd for production), and apparently the hard drive itself reached the end of its usefulness (would take too much time to reconfigure, and hard drives apparently come cheap for the company in question). It had a copy of Windows 7 already installed (better than the XP we already had), though supposedly was missing a few key features. Apparently, one of these features is Windows Media Player, and no, the "fix" that Windows released for Windows 7 N/KN "does not apply to your computer", as my version isn't marked as such.

When I went to run GTA IV (Steam version) after installing it, I filled out the RGSC window and pressed Play. Nothing happened. So far, I've tried running-as-admin, compatibility mode, uninstall/reinstall, verify game cache, and even XLiveless. Today I had a stroke of luck when I tried to run GTAIV.exe directly: "wmvcore.dll was not found". I tried installing that .dll and restarting, but nothing useful happened (Windows Messenger claimed it was missing a different .dll but seems to be running fine). I suspect that I need to find a non-Windows-approved method of obtaining WMP 12...Any other ideas?

OS: Windows 7 32-bit, specific version unknown
Hardware:
Intel E5500 dual-core CPU
EVGA/NVIDIA GTX 550 Ti
2 gigs of RAM
ASUS P5GC-MX/1333 motherboard

[mkey82]

QUOTE (Maxaxle @ Friday, Aug 10 2012, 21:14)

I suspect that I need to find a non-Windows-approved method of obtaining WMP 12

Quite correct. Probably an idiotic suggestion, but try installing this http://download.cnet.com/windows-media-player/

[Spider-Vice]

Hmm maybe you do have the N version of Windows 7, because of some European thing, this version has no media features or codecs, you should really try getting a copy of Windows 7 non-N if it's available in your country.
WMP itself won't install I think, it'll say it's already installed, even because WMP 12 isn't installable.

[Maxaxle]

QUOTE (mkey82 @ Friday, Aug 10 2012, 14:47)

QUOTE (Maxaxle @ Friday, Aug 10 2012, 21:14) I suspect that I need to find a non-Windows-approved method of obtaining WMP 12 Quite correct. Probably an idiotic suggestion, but try installing this http://download.cnet.com/windows-media-player/

Thanks, but I already tried that. "This update is not applicable to your computer" again and again and again.

As for obtaining a non-N Windows 7, I'm not about to cough up $100+ just to have it be outdated in six months (Windows 8, designed around #$^@ING TABLETS), and piracy probably isn't the best solution.

[mkey82]

What you have there is obviously not the N version, as that installer is for that one. Try enabling it in programs and features

Start > Control Panel > Programs and features > Turn Windows features on or off > "Media Features" > check "Windows Media Player" > OK and restart. If it's already checked, uncheck it and try installing again.

Also, locate this key in regedit

CODE

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Setup\Installed Versions

If there's a wmplayer.exe entry delete it and try installing again.

This post has been edited by mkey82 on Saturday, Aug 11 2012, 18:34

[Maxaxle]

The list pane in "Turn Windows features on or off" is totally blank, even after "loading". Also, I couldn't find that particular key, but I found "Progress_CurrentDialog" (set to 1), "Progress_CurrentInstall" (set to 0), "Progress_MaxDialog" (set to 8), and "Progress_MaxInstall" (set to 1).

[radioman]

QUOTE

I suspect that I need to find a non-Windows-approved method of obtaining WMP 12.

^^^^
Alright, something smells fishy there(and i'm NOT talking about the fish that comes out of the Gulf of Mexico either)....As ALL LEGAL versions of Windows comes with Windows Media Player installed by default-ie. XP came with either WMP 10 OR 11(depending on when you got it, as my old XP laptop came with WMP 10 yet my XP PRo laptop came with WMP 11), Vista comes with WMP 11 and Windows 7 comes with WMP 12 by default..Even on the N and KN versions, This right here is the WMP Download link.. from Microsoft.com....I have ALL 3 OS's(XP Home and Pro), Vista, and 7 and they ALL came with WMP pre-installed...Here's proof of that, as seen here in this Windows 7 screen shot(ALL pinned items in taskbar are the default ones minus the I-Tunes and DX icons....) So, that goes to show that ALL Windows 7 editions(legal ones that is) comes with WMP 12 pre-installed...the ONLY difference is the N and KN Editions which require you to download a codec pack(I linked to it above for convenience)...

QUOTE

, I'm not about to cough up $100+

Actually, since you already have the N version, it is less than $64 for the Full Version of Windows 7, as seen here on Wal-Mart.com.. So, that is false i'm afraid about the $100+...

[Maxaxle]

[QUOTE=radioman,Saturday, Aug 11 2012, 19:37] [QUOTE]
Actually, since you already have the N version, it is less than $64 for the Full Version of Windows 7, as seen here on Wal-Mart.com.. So, that is false i'm afraid about the $100+... [/QUOTE]
1. I don't know for certain that it's the N-version, but I mentioned that it seems to have been crippled, with bits and pieces left out at random. Or maybe the guys who were using it hated WMP (which is strange because they didn't put any other media players on), or just needed to get their testing done quickly.
2. Interesting upgrade package, however is it possible to use that upgrade to do fresh installs? That's what I'd like, if anything.
3. I don't go to Wal-Mart often

EDIT: I forgot to mention, aside from the assorted weirdnesses of the installation of W7 on this hard drive, there's nothing fishy about it. If it was pirated, I'd take my problems elsewhere.

[radioman]

QUOTE

2. Interesting upgrade package, however is it possible to use that upgrade to do fresh installs?

Yes it is possible-I had a Vista laptop that came with a free upgrade to Windows 7, and when I went to upgrade, it gave me the option to either upgrade OR do a fresh install-I chose the Upgrade option so I didn't lose any of my files and settings...

To find out what version of Windows you have, just go to Start and type in DXDIAG in the Search box and press Enter and the first screen will tell your OS information, as seen in this screen shot...

If that says either the N or KN version, all you should have to do is download the codec package from the Microsoft.com site(I linked to it in my last post for convenience)..

[mkey82]

You'll probably get more helpful answers after taking this issue to some windows 7 related forum.

[Maxaxle]

QUOTE (radioman @ Saturday, Aug 11 2012, 21:10)

To find out what version of Windows you have, just go to Start and type in DXDIAG in the Search box and press Enter and the first screen will tell your OS information

"Windows Embedded Standard 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601)"
Looks like this hard drive isn't from a laptop, but instead a medical computer, and IIRC medical computers usually have rechargable, laptop-style batteries for backup power. Explains a few compatibility issues I've been having (like this one), and it would also explain why WMP wasn't included (no need to play music on a medical computer).

[Spider-Vice]

Windows embedded? God damn you have the versions of Windows that are used in like ATM machines and as you said... medical systems. That's an OS made for these type of machines, not a computer, you need a normal Windows 7.

[Maxaxle]

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Sunday, Aug 12 2012, 09:07)

Windows embedded? God damn you have the versions of Windows that are used in like ATM machines and as you said... medical systems. That's an OS made for these type of machines, not a computer, you need a normal Windows 7.

I'm starting to realize that, but there's no reason that it would be totally incompatible with WMP. Maybe I just need to fool the WMP installer...