Windows Media Player 6.4 is embedded in Web pages even when Windows Media Player 9 Series or Windows Media Player 10 is installed

When you view a Web page that has Microsoft Windows Media Player embedded in it, Windows Media Player 6.4 is embedded instead of Windows Media Player 9 Series or Windows Media Player 10. This behavior occurs even when Windows Media Player 9 Series or Windows Media Player 10 is installed on your computer.

This behavior occurs because the Windows Media Player 6.4 ActiveX control, Msdxm.ocx, was reregistered. The control may be reregistered by some versions of the Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK), by other applications, or by manual reregistering.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To resolve this behavior, reregister the Wmpdxm.dll file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. At a command prompt, type one of the following commands:
   • %systemroot%\system32
   • c:\windows\system32
2. At a command prompt, type the following command:
   regsvr32.exe wmpdxm.dll
3. Start Registry Editor. Verify that the following registry key points to the correct path and file name for the (Default) value:
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95}\InprocServer32
   Typically, the registry key points to the following path and file name:
   C:\Windows\System32\Wmpdxm.dll

This behavior is by design.

Windows Media Player 9 Series and later versions include a compatibility layer that makes it possible for programs that use the Windows Media Player 6.4 control to use the security, privacy, and technology enhancements that are included in Windows Media Player 9 Series and later versions.

We recommend that you change your program or Web application to use the latest version of the Windows Media Player control. This lets the user take advantage of the security, privacy, and technology enhancements that are included in the latest version of Windows Media Player. For more information about how to create programs that are based on the latest version, see the Windows Media Player Software Development Kit.

If you are using version 6 of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) to administer Internet Explorer, you can prevent the IEAK from registering the Msdxm.ocx file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the folder that contains your IEAK flat installation.
2. Open the Branding.cab file.
3. In the Branding.cab file, locate the Wmp.inf file.
4. In Notepad, open the Wmp.inf file.
5. Locate and then delete the following line:
   HKLM,"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce","Register OCX",0,"regsvr32.exe /s msdxm.ocx"

After you complete these steps, you can re-create the Branding.cab file by using the Makecab.exe file in the C:\Program Files\IEAK6\Tools folder.