How to Download Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 10 - Neiotech

This site provides a wealth of technology information and analysis of emerging science and technology trends, and important software, hardware, and gadget.

Monday, 1 April 2019

How to Download Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 10

Windows Media Player has been around in various forms for decades. While it used to be the default Windows media player, that’s changed for Windows 10. It now needs installing before it’s available and the method you use will depend on your Windows 10 version.
If you’re missing this classic Windows utility, we’re here to show you how to get it back quickly and for free. We’ll also offer up some alternative media players because Windows Media Player hasn’t been updated since 2009.

Where Has Windows Media Player Gone?

The quickest way to check if you have Windows Media Player 12 (the latest version) installed and enabled is to open the Start menu and search for it.
It comes as an “optional feature” for the majority of Windows 10 versions. However, Microsoft now disables it by default, so there’s every chance your search will yield no results.
There are also two versions of the operating system that don’t have it at all: Windows 10 N and Windows 10 NK.
Windows 10 N packaging
This is because the European Commission ruled that Microsoft’s practice of pre-installing some software on their operating systems is anti-competitive. Thus, Microsoft was forced to offer alternative versions of Windows 10 that have some of these key features removed. Not only do they lack Windows Media Player, but they also exclude apps such as Video and Voice Recorder.
No matter your operating system version, we’ll show you how to install Windows Media Player for Windows 10—legally and for free.

How to Get Windows Media Player 12

It’s extremely simple to install Windows Media Player 12. The method you need will depend on your version of Windows 10.

Windows 10 N and NK

You need to download the Media Feature Pack from Microsoft’s official website.
First, select your language using the dropdown, then click Download. You must then choose which version of the file you want to download. This depends on what bit version of Windows 10 you’re running.
To find this out, press Windows key + R, input dxdiag, and click OK. This will open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Look at the line Operating System and check if it reads 32-bit or 64-bit.
Windows Feature Pack Media Player installer
If you’re running 32-bit, tick to download Microsoft-Windows-MediaFeaturePack-OOB-Package.msu. If you’re running 64-bit, select the other file. Once ticked, click Next. You should then be prompted by your browser to Open with Windows Update Standalone Installer (default). With this selected, click OK to begin the installation.
Follow the wizard through and the update will be installed. Along with installing Windows Media Player, this will also install other apps like Skype, Voice Recorder, and Groove Music. A full list of the additional features can be found on Microsoft’s support page.

Windows 10 Home and Pro

Windows Media Player comes included as an optional feature with these versions of Windows 10, but it needs to be enabled.
To do so, press Windows key + I to open Settings. Go to Apps > Manage optional features > Add a feature.
How to Download Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 10 wmp optional feature 670x359
Job done! Go back a page and you’ll see it on the list of installed optional features. You can also uninstall it from here, should you ever wish to.

No comments:

Post a Comment