Network traffic increases when folders are monitored after you upgrade to Windows Media Player 9 Series or a later version of Windows Media Player

After you upgrade to Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series or a later version of Windows Media Player, network activity to backend servers may be increased. On the backend servers, an administrator may also notice increased CPU utilization.

Windows Media Player 9 Series and later versions of Windows Media Player can automatically monitor media folders for changes in content.

By default, the player monitors the My Music folder that is used for copying music.

When Group Policy redirects the home folder of a user to a network share, the behavior of the player while monitoring folders causes increased network traffic to the redirected folder. Additionally, certain checks occur in the player to make sure that the Copy Music path is valid.

To resolve this problem, Microsoft recommends that the client not monitor content that is located in folders that are located on universal naming convention (UNC) shared resources.

This recommendation not to monitor content includes the Copy Music folder because that folder might be redirected. Additionally, Microsoft recommends that you direct the Copy Music folder to a location on the local computer that the user has access to. This redirection will prevent extra network traffic being generated by the player when the player checks for the existence of this location.

Change the following registry keys:

• HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences\TrackFoldersUseRipDir
  
  
  REG_DWORD with a value of 0x0. This turns off the monitoring of the Copy Music folder.
• HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences\TrackFoldersDirectories
  
  
  REG_DWORD with a value of 0x0. This clears out all the folders from the monitor list.
• HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences\CDRecordPath
  
  
  REG_SZ with a value of a local path. This sets the Copy Music directory to a local path.

This behavior is by design.

If a user or an administrator changes the Copy Music folder to a location where the user does not have access, the player uses the My Music folder.

If the My Documents folder has been redirected to a shared folder on a server, the My Music folder is also redirected. If you review a network trace, you may see clients constantly querying the shared folder on the server by using the following packet:For more information about how to monitor folders or how to copy music, see the Windows Media Player Help documentation.