Avast Uninstall - now Window Media Player won't open

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hello Everyone,

I’m really sorry to bother, but I’m just about at my wits end with this.

So after hearing some great things about avast, I went ahead and installed Avast 6 free to give it a try. It was nice and all, but I’ve decided to uninstall it - and this is where all the trouble began.

after uninstalling avast 6 free, my windows media player (latest version) no longer opens. It’ll pop up in task manager processes for a sec then disappear (first attempt only. all following attempts will not appear). Likewise trying to open files associated with WMP will bring up a “server execution failed” message. I’m using a Windows 7 OS - 64bit.

Please help! all I want to do is uninstall avast and be able to use WMP again :cry:

Things I’ve tried:

  1. I’ve tried system restore to pre-Avast uninstallation. This brings back a fully functional WMP, but it also brings back Avast.

  2. I’ve tried using control panel uninstall - this gave me a prompt BSOD on restart and a non-functional WMP.

  3. I’ve tried the Safe-Mode + Avast uninstaller method. This gave me a nonfunctional WMP.

  4. I’ve tried turning off&on WMP [after #2 and #3] via the “Turn off Windows…” thingy to see if it would bring it back - but still no functional WMP after avast uninstall.

I really don’t understand :cry: why would a good program break things on the way out?
also, I know some people may recommend using VLC or other players instead. I do have VLC and it’s a nice program, but if it’s not too much to ask - I’d really like to have my computer back to not being broken.

Many thank you to those who may be able to help. :cry:

2

Iv never heard of avast doing what you say it has done, what other security progams are installed on your system ? Did you fully remove your previous av with the correct uninstaller before installing avast ?

3

Or his WMP was infected and avast moved it to chest ???

4

Thats a possibility.

5

Look in the chest like they say or

Uninstall Avast in safe mode with uninstaller then try this fix

http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_media_player_diagnostic

6

Had a similar problem to this myself, so I just downloaded a new copy of wmp from Microsoft and installed it over the existing copy and all was well. Hope it works for you.

7

+1
But that still doesn’t explain what actually caused it :frowning:

8

There have previously been problems with Avast and wmp. ie on XP machines where Avast locked all the controls and changed wmp to a horrible red colour which was not possible to change back. Eventually a registry fix was found and the problem was permanently corrected in a future release. I assume that this could be a similar type of thing which only affects a small number of users. Lets hope so.

9

thank you for the ideas everyone!

hmmm, I’ll try system restore again and checking the chest (my poor WMP…). I didn’t think to try it since it worked fine up until uninstall, but that might be a good catch.

The WMP diagnostic link is a nice find too! I didn’t know they had one of those. if it’s not in the chest, I’ll try the safemode+uninstall+diagnostic method.

if both those don’t work, I’ll look more into seeing if I can find a downloadable WMP and reinstalling. I looked into it briefly before but Microsoft tells me to buy Win7 since WMP is included. I already have it tho! Grrrrr >:(,

might be a bit until I can try it out (need to wait until my next break) - but I’ll be sure to report back if it works!

Thanks again everyone! ;D

oh, a new reply before I could post. hmmm, changed it to red? I did come across that post, but my WMP won’t open so I don’t even know if it’s red or not. it’s nice they made a registry fix for it. Good job Avast! I downloaded avast just 2 weeks ago, but that registry fix thingy might be a potential lead if the above options don’t work. thanks again!

10

If you did need to uninstall media player it will revert to an older version

11

Hello!

Case Closed! I got my WMP back. Thank you Sharky7Sharky for the WMP diagnostic link. it fixed the problem for me. It seems avast changed some of the wmp registry when it uninstalled :-X In the end I lost my playlists, but I’m glad to have gotten WMP back. I can always redo my playlists - they were getting a bit disorganized anyways :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks again Sharky7Sharky and everyone else who offered suggestions! ;D

12

You may be able to revert back & burn your play list if needed.
Glad it’s sorted.

13

I must also thank you SHARKY7SHARKY. I had exactly same issue, I uninstalled Avast and my WMP stopped launching. I kept banging my head on the wall until a google search got me on this thread. I read through till I found where Tripsy thanked you for the WMP diagnostic link. I quickly headed to try the link and bam, my WMP is back! I cannot be more grateful, please thank you for this.