FIX: You hear an unexpected noise or a problem in the audio playback when you play back a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file on certain hardware devices

When you play back a Microsoft Windows Media Audio (WMA) file on certain hardware devices, you hear an unexpected noise or a problem in the audio playback. This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• You create the WMA file by using Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 or by using Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 Series.
• You create the WMA file on a computer after Microsoft Windows Media Format 11 Software Development Kit (SDK) Runtime is installed.

Audio optimizations that are incompatible with some hardware decoders are included in the Microsoft Windows Media Audio codec.

Hotfix information

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

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Download information

Microsoft Windows XP for x86-based computers (all languages)

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

Download the WindowsMedia11-KB929773-x86-INTL.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/0/3/a03a5929-f689-4fcb-abdc-84dfb970ce87/windowsmedia11-kb929773-x86-intl.exe)

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

Microsoft Windows XP for x64-based computers (all languages)

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

Download the WindowsMedia11-KB929773-x64-INTL.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/0/3/a03a5929-f689-4fcb-abdc-84dfb970ce87/windowsmedia11-kb929773-x64-intl.exe)

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.

File information

The international 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.

The problem in the audio playback does not occur when you play back content by using Windows Media Format SDK-based software players such as Windows Media Player.

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: