FIX: Windows Media Player 9 Series Downloads Radio Preset Information

When the Windows Media Player 9 Series starts, it updates the radio preset list from the Internet. In certain enterprise scenarios, the network administrator may want to restrict this behavior.

A new Group Policy object permits an administrator to prevent the Windows Media Player 9 Series from accessing the Internet to retrieve this information.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the WindowsMedia9-KB822964-x86-ENU.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/6/a/f6a45aa4-6fbd-4f12-90ec-7b4a59172319/windowsmedia9-kb822964-x86-enu.exe)
For additional 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 to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.
The hotfix version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) 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 tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

This hotfix is made up of two different files: The updated Wmp.dll file includes the new behavior, and the Wmplayer.adm file is an updated Group Policy file. For additional information about administrative template (.adm) files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

This policy prevents the Player from automatically retrieving radio station presets from the Internet and from displaying them in Media Library. Additionally, presets that exist before the policy is configured are not updated, and presets that a user adds are not displayed. When this policy is not configured or is disabled, the Player automatically retrieves radio station presets from the Internet.

Microsoft Windows XP

To use this fix on computers that are running Microsoft Windows XP, you do not have to perform any more steps after you apply this hotfix. The fix is automatically loaded the next time that the group policy editor is started.

Microsoft Windows 2000

To use this fix on computers that are running Microsoft Windows 2000, you must add the Wmplayer.adm administrative template manually. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Group Policy Object Editor.
2. Under Computer Configuration or User Configuration, right-click Administrative Templates, and then click Add/Remove Templates.
3. Click Add, and then select Wmplayer.adm from the list of administrative templates. Click OK.

For more information about manually adding administrative templates, see the Group Policy Object Editor Help documentation.

Microsoft Windows 9x

Windows 9x computers do not support Group Policy. However, users can set a registry key to prevent the Player from accessing the Internet to retrieve radio station presets. To control behavior on the Windows 9x operating system, add the following REG_DWORD registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer\PreventRadioPresetsRetrieval The values for this key are the following:

• 0x0 - The Player can connect to the Internet to retrieve radio preset data. This is the default value.
• 0x1 - The Player cannot connect to the Internet to retrieve radio preset data.

Enterprise Deployment Pack

To use this fix with the Enterprise Deployment Pack on the reference computer:

1. Follow the instructions for Windows 2000 or Windows XP to make sure that the reference computer has the new Group Policy object added.
2. Set the Prevent Radio Station Preset Retrieval policy setting:
   1. Open the Group Policy Object Editor.
   2. Expand User Configuration.
   3. Expand Administrative Templates.
   4. Expand Windows Components.
   5. Select Windows Media Player.
   6. Select Prevent Radio Station Preset Retrieval.
   This setting is available after you add the new Group Policy object.
3. Edit Regkeys.ini. Add the following under the [Policies] section:

   HKCU,Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer,PreventRadioPresetsRetrieval

4. Include this hotfix in the Redist directory.

For more information, see the documentation in the Enterprise Deployment Pack (EDP).