Windows Media Player 11 cannot play audio or video content from an .asx playlist in Windows Vista

Consider the following scenario:

• On a computer that is running Windows Vista, you try to play audio or video content in Windows Media Player 11 from an .asx playlist.
• The DURATION and STARTTIME elements that are in the .asx playlist are used to control the playback time of the content. The sum of the value of these elements exceeds 429.497 seconds.

In this scenario, Windows Media Player 11 cannot play the media that is in the playlist.

Note This problem does not occur on computers that are running Windows XP or Windows 7.

Before Windows Media Player 11 plays media content from an .asx playlist, Windows Media Player 11 calculates a "stop time" from the sum of the STARTTIME and DURATION elements that are in the .asx playlist file. However, some code in Windows Vista incorrectly sets a UINT64-type variable to the UINT32 type. This causes a data loss when the sum of the value of the elements exceeds 429.497 seconds. Therefore, Windows Media Player 11 cannot play the media content that is in the playlist.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

You must have Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed to apply this hotfix.

For more information about how to obtain a Windows Vista service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply the hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English (United States) version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows Vista file information notes

• The files that apply to a specific product, SR_Level (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table.
  Collapse this tableExpand this table

  Version	Product	SR_Level	Service branch
  6.0.600 2 . 22xxx	Windows Vista	SP2	LDR

• The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately in the "Additional file information for Windows Vista" section. MUM files and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are extremely important to maintaining the state of the updated component. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows Vista

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Vista

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

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

Additional file information

Additional file information for Windows Vista

Additional files for all supported x86-based versions of Windows Vista

Additional files for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Vista