Cannot Stream Media in Windows Media Player for Windows XP

You may not be able to stream media or there may be a delay when you are streaming media from the Internet while using Windows Media Player for Windows XP. This problem occurs only if you are using the built-in Internet Firewall Protection or Internet Connection Sharing tools and if you are attempting to stream media from a server that requires User Datagram Protocol (UDP), or if you have specified UDP in the player.

In this scenario, you may receive the following error message:

This problem is a known issue in the Internet Connection Sharing and the Internet Connection Firewall components in Windows XP.

To work around this problem, try multiple sources to stream the same media if available, such as HTTP, TCP, Multicast, and so forth. In addition, make sure that the other protocols (Multicast, TCP, and HTTP) are selected in the player:

1. Open Windows Media Player.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. On the Network tab, make sure that the appropriate check boxes are selected (Multicast, TCP, and HTTP).

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