Windows Media Player 11 on Windows 2003:
Alright, I’ve finally worked out a way how to do this, and as far as I can see from 5 test machines running Windows Server 2003, Standard; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise; Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise; Windows Server 2003, Datacenter, Windows Server 2003 x64 Enteprise… it works.
1) Download a Windows Media Player 11 setup file from one of the links here:
http://www.filewatcher.com/m/wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe.25755448.0.0.html and save to disk.
2) Run the setup file – the first thing you should see if a validation checker. Just leave this up, don’t go any further.
3) Search the hard drive for “wmp11.exe” – it should be in a temporary directory somewhere. Right click the file in the search then click “Open containing folder” (and not open).
4) Open and run the wmfdist11.exe file,
then umdf.exe
and finally wmdbexport.exe.
Be warned, you may need to run these files in Compatibilty Mode.
Simply right click each file, click Properties. Go to the Compatibility tab, then ensure that Windows XP is selected.
5) After all these are installed, you must restart (very important.)
6) Once you’ve restarted, run the wmp11.exe file in the same directory – this also may require compatibility settings being applied to it. Restart once more.
7) Back into Windows again, go to Start, Run then type in wmplayer then OK. Configure as you like, and viola it’s done