Windows Media Player does not open, or you receive an error: WMPLOC.DLL missing

These steps apply if one of the following symptoms are true:

You receive the following error message when you try to open Windows Media Player:

- An internal application error has occurred
- Windows Media Player does not start.
- Some Windows Media Player user interface (UI) elements are blank. For example, user-defined menus are blank.
- Error: WMPLOC.DLL missing

Step: 1. End Windows Media Player Task from Task Manager:

1. Right click on Task Bar and select Task Manager.
Alternate steps: Press CTRL + ALT + DEL key simultaneously and then click on Task Manager
2. In Task Manager window, click on Processes tab.
3. Find and click on wmplayer.exe entry in the list and click on End Process
4. Close Task Manager window and re-open Windows Media Player.

If the issue continues to persists, follow the next steps.

Step: 2. Run this Fixit to automatically fix the problem.

Click here to run the Fixit. On the window that pops up, click on RUN and follow the onscreen instructions

Step: 3. Manual steps to delete Media Player registry keys are mentioned below, if the above Fixit does not resolve the issue.

1. Click Start, Run, and type the following:

regedit

2. Click OK. The registry editor appears.
3. Click File, Export, type a filename that is easy for you to remember, and click Save.

A copy of the registry has been saved for back-up purposes. You can double-click the export file to restore the registry in the event of a problem.

4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the following items in the listed order:

1. Please click on the + sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
2. Please click on the + sign next to SOFTWARE
3. Please click on the + sign next to Microsoft
4. Please click on the + sign next to MediaPlayer
5. Please click on the + sign next to Setup
6. Click to select Installed Versions folder
7. On the right pane, select and delete the following entries:

wmp.dll
wmploc.dll
wmplayer.exe

8. Close Registry window and restart the PC. After the restart try opening Windows Media Player.

Step: 4 Reregister the Jscript.dll and Vbscript.dll files.

In XP:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regsvr32 jscript.dll and then click OK.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regsvr32 vbscript.dll and then click OK.

In Vista and Windows 7:

1. Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories.
2. Right click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
Click on Continue if you get the User Account Control window asking for authorization to continue.
3. Now in the Command Prompt window, type the following commands and press Enter after each command is executed.

regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll

4. Close Command Prompt window and try to open Media Player. If the issue persists, restart the PC.