Full-screen mode becomes unresponsive in Windows Media Player on a Windows Vista-based computer

Consider the following scenario:

• You are using a Windows Vista-based computer.
• You have Aero Glass disabled, or the video card does not support this mode.
• You are playing a video in Microsoft Windows Media Player.
• You are playing the video in full-screen mode.
• You right-click the full-screen video to display a shortcut menu.

In this scenario, the video playback window becomes unresponsive. If you press CTL+ALT+DEL to exit full-screen mode, Windows Media Player functionality returns.

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use Registry Editor

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type DXEM_UpdateFrequency, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type 2, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor.

Method 2: Disable the “Show shadows under menus” option

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization, click Personalization, click Window Color and Appearance, click Open classic appearance properties for more color options, and then click Effects.
2. Click to clear the Show shadows under menus option.

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