wmplayer.exe remains running after closing

Hello.
I have a strange problem which I didn't have before.
I recently had to reinstall Windows 7 x64 and I have installed the codec pack I had at the moment of reinstallation, which worked flawlessly before the reinstallation. I think it is version 14.8.4, but all K-Lite Codec Packs I have used so far never had an issue I am about to describe (I tried a newer version as well and the issue is still there).

Every now and then, when I open a video file, everything plays normally. But after stopping the file and closing WMP, LAV tray icons remain in the taskbar and the wmplayer.exe process still shows running in the Task Manager. If I try to open another media file, it hangs and after about 30 seconds I get an error telling me something like "Server execution failed" and that Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The wmplayer.exe still remains loaded in the Task Manager even though there is no visible Windows Media Player window on the screen.

If I kill wmplayer.exe process from the Task Manager, the icons disappear and I can again open a media file normally - until it again decides to do the same. So I can "cure" this by end-tasking the wmplayer.exe each time this happens, but that is annoying.

I didn't change any hardware at the moment of reinstallation, Windows version is also the same. This issue affects mostly video files of various extensions, I can't yet pinpoint the true reason/cause. Maybe you can help with this behaviour.
What could be causing Windows Media Player not to close all opened filters/decoders and exit from the porcesses list after closing a media file or WMP altogether?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help you might provide. :-)

That is due to a bug in a recent Windows update.

To fix it:
Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt > right-click and Run as administrator
And run these two commands:
regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll

Hi, and thanks for the quick reply.

I tried that and there is no difference.

I also tried disabling the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service, no difference.
I disabled Media Player from scanning and adding contents to its Media Library, as I did before.

I can't remember whether I had some specific WMP update or so. WMP version is 12.

Also try this command:
sfc /scannow

Well, the system scan and recovery didn't find anything wrong.
Here is an update: I tried switching between different viewing modes and tested with each of them. The issues seems to occur only in Skin Mode of the WMP, or it may just be a pure luck. This is the first time a have ever experienced this. I like Skin Mode because of some extra info it gives on opened files, but for some reason it has started causing this stupid bug. Any ideas on what might be the source of the problem?

Microsoft made some changes regarding VBScript in the August (and later) updates for Windows. This broke some things. The fixes I mentioned solved the issue with same error message in WMP for some people. But there may possibly be other causes for this error.

If you google for the exact error message with quotes around it then you can find more things to try as a fix.

I do recommend using latest version of K-Lite. Works perfect on Windows 7 as that is what I use myself as well.

Hi, thanks. I have already tried:

- disabling WMP Network Sharing Service,
- re-registering vbscript.dll and jscript.dll files,
- disabling and re-enabling WMP in Windows Features,
- performing system scan and recovery,
- runnng a full computer scan against malware,
all to no avail.

I agree with you that Microsoft must have broken something either in WMP itself or some of the supporting settings or library files. I investigated a bit more. I discovered something interesting using Process Monitor. When I start WMP and simply just click on the Play menu within the skin mode's menu bar, Process Monitor displays a bunch of new entries made by the wmplayer.exe process. Upon clicking on the Close button then, WMP really closes and removes itself from the process list, so I can start it up again with no problems.
If I don't do this, it will not close fully. Actually, it turns out that loading a file is not even necessary as the glitch can be reproduced simply by starting and closing WMP. But clicking on the Play menu seems to "repair" the player and prevents it from not closing properly - it actually makes it work as intended.

I did try the latest version 15 of K-Lite just out of curiosity but there's no difference, the bug persists. Having discovered the Play menu workaround, I really don't think anymore that the problem is caused by K-Lite. If it happens with no media file loaded, then K-Lite doesn't even come into play. Do you have any info on Media Player KB articles and downladable fixes/packs? Obviously, Microsoft believes that their player works flawlessly and has discontinued their "fix it" utilities. Their support and answers page has been useless for resolving this issue. If we could pinpoint the solution, maybe you could integrate it into the Codec Tweak Tool. Perhaps it's some registry setting that needs to be set. I am willing to assist in the testing like I did with the VSFilter before. :-)

There are no WMP specific windows updates. They only have monthly updates now:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4525235/windows-7-update-kb4525235

Another thing you can try:
WMP options > Privacy > disable everything

Check what happens in Process Monitor when you click the play menu. Maybe that gives a useful clue.

Hi all. After some time of investigating, I fixed the problem. It looks like Media Library got corrupted somehow. Anyway, I just wanted to share my findings with you in case someone else ran into this issue.

Make sure Windows Media Player is fully closed (not running it the Task Manager - if it does, end it). Then open Windows Explorer (or any file browser) and head to this path:

C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player
(replace the [User] section with your actual accoun name)

If you can't see the folder, you will have to set your file browser to show hidden files and folders, as well as to display the extensions for all files. Once you have reached the designated folder, delete the following WMDB files:

CurrentDatabase_372.wmdb
LocalMLS_0.wmdb
LocalMLS_1.wmdb
LocalMLS_2.wmdb
LocalMLS_3.wmdb
LocalMLS_4.wmdb
wmpfolders.wmdb

If your Library was populated, it will become empty after performing this step. However, Media Player will recreate these files on the first run and reset them properly.
After this, Media Player closed normally in the Skin Mode as it should. If you don't use the Library, you can go to Media Player options (Library and Player sections) and disable adding files to the library when played.

This has worked for me. It may not apply to someone else, but maybe it could help.
Admin, thanks for your time and suggestions. ;-)