Fixing When Windows Media Player Library Won't Let You Add Files
If you've been experiencing the problem where you can't add files to Windows Media Player's library no matter what you do, then you probably have a corrupted database, and you'll need to delete it and then re-add all of your media to the library.
NOTE: These steps will delete files, so you should make a backup of any of these files before you do this, especially if you have purchased music via one of the online music shops. Your music will not be deleted, just the database.
The first thing you'll need to do is go to Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ Services for XP and look for the services that start with "Windows Media Player". (Make sure Media Player is closed too)
Click the stop button for each and make sure that all of the services that start with "Windows Media Player" are stopped before you continue. Next, open up an explorer window and paste in the following path into the address bar.
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player\
You'll see a bunch of files in the folder. I'd advise moving all of these files to another directory somewhere else, but you could also delete them if you were daring enough.
Now when you restart Windows Media Player, you should be able to add music to your library again.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I was about to put a boot through my computer when I happened upon your website. Solved my problem.
Thanks so much Ive had this problem for a few days now
It worked for me! Thanks
THANK YOU!!!
I thought it worked, but then I restarted my computer and the same problem was back! What now?
You guys should really check out that website too if you're looking for help. It turns out for me I had some sort of attributes set on my files, and if WMP sees the attributes set, it skips the folders.
http://weblogs.asp.net/chuckop.....95139.aspx
Thank very much for your help!
You help me a lot to solve it..
thankyou so much!!
Thnaks a mill!!! so clear and definite, no mesing about!!! You are a legend!!!
I had problems where I couldnt delete playlists or add monitored folders, this fixed the problem….. Why did I not find this solution sooner
Thank you so much. This worked after a few tries. I discovered I was not deleting the media player files in the correct directory. Once I did, it worked just fine.
Thanks for the help.
Thank you so much for the help ! At last it works fine now !
A spot on problem solving. Thanks a million.
Ben
Thanks Man!!!
Great fix, really appreciate your efforts
Thanks so so much!
If you are having the same problem I was where your media player 11 wasnt adding new files to the media watch list and the list remained empty there is a simple fix for that. I found a website that provided a bunch of good info for the fix. You can find the article at http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#medialibrary but I am also summin it up here for you.
Make sure all media player related services are not running. In the Task Manager these files are wmplayer.exe, wmpnscfg.exe, and WMPNetwk.exe as far as I know. If you run any WMP plugins in firefox close firefox as well (This includes the WMP plugin and FoxyTunes). Also make sure IE and Media Center(If you have it) are closed.
On XP browse to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\ and then rename the Media Player folder. Upon re-launching media player your WMP should rebuild this folder with the defaults. This will fix the database files as well allowing you to add new folders and files.
On Vista browse to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft and rename the media player folder. Upon re-launching media player your WMP should rebuild this folder with the defaults. This will fix the database files as well allowing you to add new folders and files.
I hope this helps alot of people out there who have this issue and dont forget to check out http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#medialibrary for any more media player related info. Also give a thanks to the author of that page if you have time.
- Asagron
Thanks, this is very useful!
Fantastic, thank you… worked a treat
May be a silly question but how do you back up music files… weirdly enough, I've never backed up anything before.
Thanks,
Brilliant!
top man, cheers thanks a lot.follow it step by step and it should work for you…im running vista and WMPlayer 11
Asagron, that worked perfectly!!!! thank you!
Thanks, worked for me (vista ulimate, WMP11)
Thanks a million. Worked really well!
I almost gave up on this,… I've had the problem for over 4 months… almost scrapped WMP entirely…. Works a treat now… THANKS !
Do you lose music files when doing this though?
No you dont loose files when doing this, you only loose the database and your settings I believe(not sure if settings are reset). Media player will say there are no files in the library, just import in like you were starting Media Player for the first time. Do this by selecting the arrow below Library > then add to library. Laura to back up music files you can do this by burning all the files to a DVD or simply by copying them to another hard drive (external or internal). I recommend backing up to an external Hard Drive as a failure in your system doesnt make it hard to get your files off, you just plug it into another computer via the usb/firewire.
- Asagron