How to install Windows Media 9 onto Windows 7

Before you begin, you need to have the following utilities installed:

·         7-Zip – Download from http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

·         Resource Hacker – Download from http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/

Open the ‘Programs and Features’ control panel and select ‘Turn Windows Features on or off’.

 

In the ‘Windows Features’ window, expend ‘Media Features’ and then un-tick the checkbox for ‘Windows Media Player’.

 

You’ll see a warning message telling you that ‘Windows Media Center’ will also be turned off, click ‘Yes’ to continue.

 

Back in the ‘Windows Features’ window, click ‘OK’.

You will now be asked to restart your PC. Make sure it is safe to do so and click ‘Restart Now’.

 

Once your PC is booted up, download Windows Media Player 9 for XP from http://download.cnet.com/Windows-Media-Player-Windows-XP/3000-2139_4-10180881.html

Right-click the MPSetupXP installer and use 7-Zip to extract its contents to a folder called ‘MPSetupXP’.

 

Go into the ‘MPSetupXP’ folder and find the ‘setup_wm.exe’ file. Right-click it and select ‘Open using Resource Hacker’.

 

In Resource Hacker, expand ‘String Table’ > ‘11’ and select ‘1033’.

In the right-hand pane delete line 165 and click ‘Compile Script’.

 

Expand ‘Version Info’ > ‘1’ and select ‘1033’.

In the right-hand pane change all occurrences of ‘9,0,0,2980’ to ‘13,0,0,2980’ and click ‘Compile Script’.

 

Expand ‘24’ > ‘1’ and select ‘1033’.

Change ‘version="9.0.0.0"’ to ‘version="13.0.0.0"’ and click ‘Compile Script’.

 

From the ‘File’ menu select ‘Save’ and close Resource Hacker.

Now launch ‘setup_wm.exe’ and install Windows Media Player 9.

 

To verify that WMP 9 is installed, launch it, go to the ‘Help’ menu and select ‘About Windows Media Player’.

 

This guide has been successfully tested on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.