FIX: Windows Media Player seems to stop responding (hang) when you click an Outlook 2007 link to a local file or a UNC path

Consider the following scenario:

• You use Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
• You run the Windows XP operating system.
• You use Windows Media Player 11.
• You receive an e-mail message that contains a link to an audio or video file. This file can be located on your local hard disk or on a network drive.

In this scenario, if you click the link to the audio or video file in Outlook 2007, Windows Media Player starts, but then seems to stop responding (hang). Eventually, the audio or video file may play.

This problem occurs in Windows Media Player 11 running on Windows XP because of the way that the program handles the handoff of URLs from other programs. Outlook 2007 calls Windows Media Player as the handler for audio and video files from a thread that is not the User Interface (UI) thread. This is typically thread 0. Wmplayer.exe then starts a second instance of wmplayer.exe. This second instance includes additional startup parameters. The program tries to pass notification of the parameters and of the successful startup to a thread that has ended.

Update information

A supported update is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, obtain the update from the Microsoft Download Center.

Download information

Windows XP, 32-bit versions

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Download the WindowsMedia11-KB959199-x86-INTL.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/e/a/7ea57fb0-48fd-4bed-b9a1-13c3853f5d77/windowsmedia11-kb959199-x86-intl.exe)

Windows XP, 64-bit versions

Download the WindowsMedia11-KB959199-x64-INTL.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/e/a/7ea57fb0-48fd-4bed-b9a1-13c3853f5d77/windowsmedia11-kb959199-x64-intl.exe)

Note This update does not have a 64-bit version for Windows XP. This package applies the 32-bit version of this update running on the 64-bit version of Windows XP.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

This update is not scheduled to be included with a service pack.

Prerequisites

You must have Windows Media Player 11 installed to install this update.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you install this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any previous updates.

File information

The global version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.