How to fix missing Media Foundation Microsoft AAC Audio Decoder Transform MFT Windows Server 2k8r2 sp1

Question

I have a Windows Server 2008R2 SP1 VM that has somehow lost its Media Foundation AAC Transform. I discovered this when certain .MOVs with AAC streams were not behaving as expected.

I opened TopoEdit on my Win7 development box and on the VM and noticed in the available transforms that Microsoft AAC Audio Decoder MFT was only listed on the Win7 box. TopoEdit will also not render any files on the 2008R2 VM.

Answer 1

The Microsoft Media Foundation AAC Decoder is not included with Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2008R2. Only the encoder is included. The Update for Desktop Experience Decoder for Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB2483177) includes the missing AAC decoder that is normally found on Win7. This update is not included in Windows Update from what I can tell. Any time Desktop Experience is reinstalled, this update will have to be manually applied.