how to disable Play with Windows Media Player contextual menu?

in Windows (Vista), when viewing a folder, when right clicking on a item, there's the menu “Play with Windows Media Player”.

How to set it so such submenu does not show?

(not sure I want to uninstall Windows Media Player though)

I have no problem if modding Registry is required, just need to know where...

Xah Lee

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 457

I'm looking for the same thing. Strangely enough (is it really?), it does not seem to be hooked into the system in the usual manner (neither Sysinternals' Autoruns, nor Nirsoft's ShellExView, and not even Regedit can find it). I suspect that it might be part snuck into some other "general-purpose" module instead of its own DLL, thus making it hard to find. If (uh, no, when), I find it, I'll let you know. – Synetech – 2011-01-19T19:43:30.803

1Nevermind, it was much easier than I thought. Unfortunately I wasted time by using Process Monitor to observe registry accesses instead of just searching the registry for the string. Duh. :) – Synetech – 2011-01-19T20:23:06.950

Answers

The relevant entry occurs several times in the registry, but only one place needs to be removed to disable the context-menu entry. Further, the context-menu entry exists separately for different types of media files and folders, depending on whether it is audio, image, or video. Finally, there are separate entries to play the items in WMP and to to add them to the WMP playlist. This creates twelve permutations that need to be removed (actally, only ten because there doesn't seem to be entries for image files, only image folders).

Here's how to remove both commands from all three media types for both files and folders: Create a .reg file with the following content and run it.

REGEDIT4
;Remove "Play with Windows Media Player" context menu entries

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Enqueue]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Play]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Enqueue]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Play]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Enqueue]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Play]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Enqueue]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Play]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Enqueue]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Play]

Adding them back is much longer (below), so you may want to back them up.

If you want to keep the context-menu entries but simply remove the accelerator (P) so that you can paste files easily without having to first go through the WMP entry, you need to modify a different registry entry:

In this key:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\MuiCache\149\52C64B7E]

Change this value:
"@C:\Windows\system32\unregmp2.exe,-9801"="&Play with Windows Media Player"

To this (or something else; the & marks the accelerator):
"@C:\Windows\system32\unregmp2.exe,-9801"="Play with Windows Media Player"

Similarly, the Add to WMP entry is:
"@C:\Windows\system32\unregmp2.exe,-9800"="&Add to Windows Media Player list"

REGEDIT4
;Restore "Play with Windows Media Player" context menu entries

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Enqueue]
@="&Add to Windows Media Player list"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,30,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Enqueue\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{45597c98-80f6-4549-84ff-752cf55e2d29}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Play]
@="&Play with Windows Media Player"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,31,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\audio\shell\Play\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ed1d0fdf-4414-470a-a56d-cfb68623fc58}"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Enqueue]
@="&Add to Windows Media Player list"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,30,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Enqueue\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{45597c98-80f6-4549-84ff-752cf55e2d29}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Play]
@="&Play with Windows Media Player"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,31,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\video\shell\Play\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ed1d0fdf-4414-470a-a56d-cfb68623fc58}"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Enqueue]
@="&Add to Windows Media Player list"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,30,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Enqueue\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{45597c98-80f6-4549-84ff-752cf55e2d29}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Play]
@="&Play with Windows Media Player"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,31,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shell\Play\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ed1d0fdf-4414-470a-a56d-cfb68623fc58}"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Enqueue]
@="&Add to Windows Media Player list"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,30,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Enqueue\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{45597c98-80f6-4549-84ff-752cf55e2d29}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Play]
@="&Play with Windows Media Player"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,31,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shell\Play\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ed1d0fdf-4414-470a-a56d-cfb68623fc58}"



[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Enqueue]
@="&Add to Windows Media Player list"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,30,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Enqueue\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{45597c98-80f6-4549-84ff-752cf55e2d29}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Play]
@="&Play with Windows Media Player"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,25,53,79,73,74,65,6d,52,6f,6f,74,25,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,75,6e,72,65,67,6d,70,32,2e,65,78,65,2c,2d,39,38,30,31,00
"NeverDefault"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shell\Play\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{ed1d0fdf-4414-470a-a56d-cfb68623fc58}"

Synetech

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 63 242

1Or better yet: ➀ run C:\Windows\system32\ComputerDefaults.exe → ➁ scroll down to Choose a default media-player → ➂ remove the ✔ from Enable access to this program → ➃ click OK → DONE → ➄ ? → ➅ ⓅⓇⓄⒻⒾⓉ! – None – 2015-12-26T06:56:46.853

I found this method (win7) which has just worked for me on Win 10 (10586) and is less scary than all that registry editing business : http://www.freewaregenius.com/how-to-remove-windows-media-player-from-the-windows-7-right-click-context-menu/

BobSter2

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 189

Absolutely RIGHT answer, should be the accepted one. After decades of using Windows, I finally couldn't stand anymore seeing those Windows Media Player items in the contex menu. – andreszs – 2020-02-20T00:13:23.163

Just run:

regsvr32 /u wmpshell.dll

This will unregister the Windows Media Player shell extension and thus remove the Play with WMP entry.

Ruuslan

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 59

Care to explain how this works @rootslan.ru? – Ivo Flipse – 2011-02-19T12:34:21.320

I already tried that and it didn’t work. It only removes entries from HKCR\CLSID, not the relevant SystemFileAssociations entries. – Synetech – 2011-02-19T20:16:06.183

Get rid of "Play with Windows Media Player" and "Add to Play with Windows Media Player List" entry in context menu.

Control Panel - Default Programs - Set program access and computer defaults.

Click on Custom, if nothing shows, change it to something else, then click it.

Under Choose a default media player, deselect Enable access from this program from Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center and any others (like iTunes)

Hugh Tash

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 471

Don't forget to remove

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WMPShopMusic

To get rid of "Shop for Music Online" in Audio Directory context menus.

Chris

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 21

Thanks, I had a hard time trying to find out this one searching the Registry the usual way, as the menu label isn't in the Registry. – Gras Double – 2015-01-02T17:20:52.603

This is not a forum, answers are not always listed in the same order. – Tamara Wijsman – 2011-11-06T02:00:30.313

In Windows Vista (and possibly Windows 7?), you can remove the following keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Audio\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WMPAddToPlaylist
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Image\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WMPAddToPlaylist
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\Directory.Video\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WMPAddToPlaylist

All of these have a default value of {F1B9284F-E9DC-4e68-9D7E-42362A59F0FD}, which is the CLSID of the context handler for adding media to Windows Media Player.

I did this to get rid of the annoying "Add to &Windows Media Player list" entry in the Windows Explorer File menu, meaning the ALT-F, ALT-W key sequence would always select "New &Folder" even if a folder is currently selected in Explorer. I still wanted to be able to enqueue individual files though.

Note that there are also WMPPlayAsPlaylist and WMPShopMusic keys in these directory associations you may wish to delete as well.

I rebooted after deleting the keys; I don't know if this was necessary or not.

Stuart May

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 11

-1

Remove shell extension "Play with Windows Media Player"

I had the same problem, but unfortunately, I didn't find the keys I was
looking for in the registry and it's too boring going through Folder
Options. After a quick Google search, I dug this up:

1. Go to Start > Run
2. Type in "regsvr32 /u wmpshell.dll" (without the quotes)
3. Hit OK
4. Voila! No more WMP shell extensions

zopfan

Posted 2010-08-21T01:40:32.537

Reputation: 49