WMP integrates itself all within the Windows shell. Many people notice this when they right-click that there are several WMP-related options. This little hack will remove the Windows Media Player integration and the right-click context media player menu options.
Leave my context menu alone! If you just let it go wild, every program in the world wants to install some option there. Windows Media Player not only puts itself there, but integrates itself throughout the shell. Actually removing this integration is surprisingly easy!
Remove WMP Integration:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type in regsvr32 /u wmpshell.dll
4. Click Enter
Easy!
This will remove the media player related right-click context menu options and other WMP integration. One side effect of this is that you may not be able to set WMP as your default media player anymore.
If you decide you want to integrate it once again, you should be able to issue this command instead
regsvr32 wmpshell.dll
Microsoft Windows Media Player is installed as a Windows component along with Windows operating systems such as Windows ME, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Microsoft regularly releases updates for the player. You can install these updates on your computer to enhance the features of the current software version and also to increase its security. Windows Media Player 10 Beta and Windows Media Player 11 are two such updates that you can install on your Windows XP computer for enhanced features. Although the updates are good, at times, they can cause problems on your system forcing you to uninstall them. In this article, we will discuss various methods you can use to uninstall Windows Media Player updates from your Windows XP computer.
How to uninstall Windows Media Player updates
There are many methods you can use to remove Windows Media Player updates from your computer. Let’s have a look at some of them.
How do I uninstall using Control Panel?
To uninstall using the Control Panel, perform the following steps:
Select Start and then select the Control Panel command.
Select the Add or Remove Programs option.
Scroll down the Currently installed programs list to search for the option for Windows Media Player update. Or, if the option is not visible in the list, then select the Show Updates checkbox, located at the top of the Add or Remove Programs window.
After selecting the Show Updates checkbox, scroll down the list again to search for the updates. One or more Windows Media updates may be visible to you now.
Select each update and select the Remove button to uninstall.
After you have removed all updates you want to remove, restart your PC.
How can I uninstall Windows Media Player using the exe file?
If you are unable to locate the option to uninstall in the Control Panel, then follow the procedure discussed below.
Open the Registry Editor by running the Regedit command.
In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \MicrosoftWindows\ Current Version \Uninstall
Note: Under this key, you will find entries for all the applications installed on your computer.
Click on the entry for Media Player 10 beta, Media Player 11, and any other update you want to remove. On the right two strings will be displayed: DisplayName and UninstallString.
Now, double-click on the UninstallString, and copy the value in the Value Data field.
Next, exit the Registry Editor window and paste the copied string value in the Start > Run > Open field.
Select the OK button to start the uninstallation process.
Warning: The steps listed here require you to access the Windows Registry. Remember to make a backup of the registry before you start working with the registry. All changes done to the registry from the Registry Editor are permanent and cannot be undone.