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Xenos123
Guest
I should start by saying that I've been an IT Professional for close to 30 years half of which were spent supporting Windows 3.11, Windows XP, Windows 95, 98, NT4. Recently I got voluntary early retirement from my employer and to keep busy I help out friends and relatives with their computers. I don't charge anything I should add 
. I am currently helping or rather trying to help a friend with a bizarre issue that he is having with his Windows Media Player Server.
He uses Windows 10 Pro and all available Windows updates have been installed. For years he has been using his computer as a Media server to play media stored on his computer's hard drive, remotely over the LAN on devices such as TVs, WD TV Live players etc, around his home. He tried other Media server software such as Plex and Emby but found that he always went back to the Windows Media Player server that comes with Windows as his Media server software. It was simple to use, relatively stable and worked fine. Until a couple of weeks ago that is, when suddenly the Media libraries stopped getting updated. Any new stuff would not show up and stuff that were deleted, renamed or moved somewhere else, would still show. He tried a number of "solutions" that he found on the Web and when nothing worked, he turned to yours truly since I am the "expert". Well, after trying to fix this issue for him on and off for about a week, I am now just about to give up and advise him to forget about the Windows Media Player and start using one of the above mentioned software that don't seem to have this issue.
These are the actions I took to see if I could resolve this issue:
1. I stopped the Windows Media Player Network Sharing service, removed the media folder from the Windows Media Player and manually deleted all the media player databases (.wmdb). I then re-added the media folder, waited for the library to complete updating and restarted the Service. I checked the library in the Windows Media Player to make sure that the correct media were listed and that no media that had been deleted were showing. Then I connected to the Media Server from different media devices (TV, WD TV Live) and was astonished to see that the deleted stuff were still showing as well that the new stuff I copied into the media folder to test, were not. Back to the drawing board ...
2. I stopped the sharing service again, uninstalled Windows Media Player, deleted all the Windows Media Player folders manually and even used CCleaner to "clean-up" any references to the Windows Media Player in the Registry. The PC was rebooted after the Media Player was uninstalled. I then reinstalled the Media Player, re-added the media folder to the library, waited for it to finish updating, checked to make sure that the correct information was listed, restarted the sharing service and ran to a TV to check if the correct information was displaying. Well, you guessed it. Nope! The deleted media were still there and the new media were missing. I could not believe my eyes. Where in the heck, it's picking up this information?
3. I checked the hard drive the media folder is on for any faults using the Windows Tools and WD Disk Tools. No issues with the drive. I attempted 2. above again and again the same issue.
In the meantime Emby server which I installed for my friend has no issue "seeing" the correct information. So he is using that in the meantime although he is telling me that occasionally while he plays a media file, it stops playing and he has to restart it. Something that did not happen before with the Windows Media Player server.
Before I raise the white flag and accept defeat, I am turning to this community for any suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.
More...
. I am currently helping or rather trying to help a friend with a bizarre issue that he is having with his Windows Media Player Server.He uses Windows 10 Pro and all available Windows updates have been installed. For years he has been using his computer as a Media server to play media stored on his computer's hard drive, remotely over the LAN on devices such as TVs, WD TV Live players etc, around his home. He tried other Media server software such as Plex and Emby but found that he always went back to the Windows Media Player server that comes with Windows as his Media server software. It was simple to use, relatively stable and worked fine. Until a couple of weeks ago that is, when suddenly the Media libraries stopped getting updated. Any new stuff would not show up and stuff that were deleted, renamed or moved somewhere else, would still show. He tried a number of "solutions" that he found on the Web and when nothing worked, he turned to yours truly since I am the "expert". Well, after trying to fix this issue for him on and off for about a week, I am now just about to give up and advise him to forget about the Windows Media Player and start using one of the above mentioned software that don't seem to have this issue.
These are the actions I took to see if I could resolve this issue:
1. I stopped the Windows Media Player Network Sharing service, removed the media folder from the Windows Media Player and manually deleted all the media player databases (.wmdb). I then re-added the media folder, waited for the library to complete updating and restarted the Service. I checked the library in the Windows Media Player to make sure that the correct media were listed and that no media that had been deleted were showing. Then I connected to the Media Server from different media devices (TV, WD TV Live) and was astonished to see that the deleted stuff were still showing as well that the new stuff I copied into the media folder to test, were not. Back to the drawing board ...
2. I stopped the sharing service again, uninstalled Windows Media Player, deleted all the Windows Media Player folders manually and even used CCleaner to "clean-up" any references to the Windows Media Player in the Registry. The PC was rebooted after the Media Player was uninstalled. I then reinstalled the Media Player, re-added the media folder to the library, waited for it to finish updating, checked to make sure that the correct information was listed, restarted the sharing service and ran to a TV to check if the correct information was displaying. Well, you guessed it. Nope! The deleted media were still there and the new media were missing. I could not believe my eyes. Where in the heck, it's picking up this information?
3. I checked the hard drive the media folder is on for any faults using the Windows Tools and WD Disk Tools. No issues with the drive. I attempted 2. above again and again the same issue.
In the meantime Emby server which I installed for my friend has no issue "seeing" the correct information. So he is using that in the meantime although he is telling me that occasionally while he plays a media file, it stops playing and he has to restart it. Something that did not happen before with the Windows Media Player server.
Before I raise the white flag and accept defeat, I am turning to this community for any suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.
More...
