# how do I fix what windows media player did?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 10, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138 "2003-12-10T13:39:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138/1 "2003-12-10T13:39:37Z")

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I just downloaded the newest version of Windows Media player and it converted all my .avi .mpeg. asf files to .wmv

This would be fine if it could play any of these, but apparently it can’t do to codecs it can’t download and I can’t find.

Can someone help? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138/2 "2003-12-10T14:45:16Z")

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I doubt it converted them. It probably just assigned itself as the default player for those extensions.

You should be able to go back into folder options and reset the default program for those file types. If the extension really is changed, try to set it back to the original and open it with the correct player. Again, I don’t think even a program as malicious as media player could have done a true conversion of the files.

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**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138/3 "2003-12-10T18:26:04Z")

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Everything that **Waverly** said.  
Also you can run windows media player and click on Tools\>Options and select the “File Types” tab.  
Uncheck all the file types you dont want windows media player to open.This should let the original players to play the software.Just in case you still cant get the files to open with the player you want all you have to do is right click on the file and choose “open with” and click “choose program”.Select your wanted program from the list and dont forget to check “always use this program to open this”

Hope this helps.

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**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138/4 "2003-12-10T18:34:32Z")

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You should also go under Windows Explorer, select View\>Options, and uncheck “hide extensions for known file types.” This option causes more problems than it solves once the user passes the “totally clueless newbie” stage.

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**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-fix-what-windows-media-player-did/218138/5 "2003-12-10T18:43:41Z")

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I think it converted everything, the files all end with .wmv now. I’ll try what you suggest and see if it works.