Why won't Windows Media Player play my MP3s?

I have copied a bunch of music to my new-ish laptop (a work-issued Dell running Vista), but when I try to play some - but not all - of the songs, Windows Media Player pops up a message that says "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file."

However, the files are all MP3s and play perfectly on my other laptop (a work-issued IBM running XP), using Windows Media Player, so I can't imagine that the codec is a problem!

I wanted to make CDs of some of this music to play in my car, but it absolutely refuses to play or burn these songs.

What could the problem be?

Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

2010-09-03T14:49:40Z

Thank you Kuma, darling! I do have - and use - VLC, but I can't use it to burn CDs, so I'm kind of stuck with WMP for this...and there are just so many songs that I have that I want to sing along to while driving!
(((Kuma)))

Olga, darling, thank you! That did give me more info - and I think that you and unny and delsol are right...it must be the codec. Now I just have to find the right one!

(((Olga))) (((delsol))) (((unny)))

Toke Lover, darling, if you know of a better program to use to burn CDs, I'm all ears!! Thank you so much!!!
My beloved also said it might be best to just give up on the CDs and get one of those thingies that I can use to play my iPod in the car, but I'm not really used to the iPod, so I think it would be awkward.

(((Toke Lover)))

2010-09-03T16:05:52Z

Oh Purdey, darling, that could very well be true. My Dell seems flimsy and very finicky, compared to my IBM, and the fact that I have to keep Vista - which really is pretty cheesy - on it doesn't make that any better!!

Good to see you, darling - I haven't seen you in a while!!

(((Purdey)))

delsol2010-09-03T09:20:22Z

Favorite Answer

download codec for it which support MP3s. Its all about codec because it is the thing responsible for playing different music/video formats in your players. try downloading the latest windows media player from the windows website. or you can download VLC Media player, its the BEST of all players, can support almost all format.

Good luck!

EDIT: The best program for burning cd is Nero 7, you can use it yo burn MP3 CD or Audio CD.

for Windows Media Player, try to check this website from microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

update your Windows Media Player and/or try to find new codec from it so it would play all your mp3s

Anonymous2014-08-18T18:46:54Z

When the built-in media player doesn't work, use VLC.

You can get it for free here: http://bitly.com/1lqhbTS

It's my favourite media player and I highly recommend it over any other audio/video player.

VLC (video lan connect) is a great open source software to play any types of video files. VLC has a built in dvd decodere and works with many different video and audio formats including OGG, MP2, MP3, MP4, DivX, HD codecs like AES3, Raw Dirac.

Anonymous2016-03-18T12:38:18Z

My little cousin was on my computer one day, and apparently she somehow downloaded QuickTime onto my computer without even knowing it. Everytime I tried to listen to mp3's or watch mpg's, the Quicktime player kept popping up instead of Windows Media Player. So all I did was go to Control Panel, then I uninstalled the Quicktime program from my computer. But if you want to keep Quicktime instead of uninstalling it, then I believe you can open up your Windows Media Player and set it as your default player.

Toke Lover2010-09-03T10:05:17Z

(((Auntie)))

Happens to me all the time, usually the file was corrupted in download. I have another media player, came with some nano thing I bought. It has an option to convert files....if that media player will play the file, then I can usually use that program to convert it to something other than mp3 then back to mp3 & then Windows will play.

Try downloading a different media player....I haven't burnt a CD in a very long time...CD player broke & just bought better speakers for the computer...but I don't think I ever used windows to burn them...I think I used Roxio...I'll check when I get home....maybe get back to you on this.

Anonymous2014-08-04T09:13:55Z

Hey,
This is a link where you can downlod for free VLC http://bitly.com/1lqhfD8
It's a very good program and easy to use.
Have a nice day

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