ok this is really weird and just started the other day...

i cannot play audio files in itunes or on windows media player (videos dont work either). on itunes i click on play and it just sits there at 0:00 and when i try to open the file in WMP it gives me this error:

"Windows Media Player cannot access the file. The file might be in use, you might not have access to the computer where the file is stored, or your proxy settings might not be correct."

just doesnt make sense because i havent been having this problem before and all of a sudden i cant play media files. i updated itunes and that did absolutely nothing and i tried updating WMP but it kept saying that the one i downloaded was behind the one i have so i just kept it. i dont think it is WMP since i cant play any file on itunes either. i have run windows update and there are no updates left to download so i figure my audio driver is up to date.

the computer is a dell running vista.

anyone know what is wrong?

2/3/2008 3:15:18 PM

Quote :

"anyone know what is wrong?"

Quote :

"running vista"

2/3/2008 3:29:31 PM

are the files on a different drive than your programs?

2/3/2008 4:02:02 PM

nope everything is on the c drive...the weird thing is things like youtube all work but I can't play anything off of my hard drive

I have had vista for close to a year now and this is the first problem I have ever come across

2/3/2008 4:35:56 PM

similar problem solved here:

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vista/654966-solved-can-t-play-audio.html

worth a shot.

2/3/2008 4:42:49 PM

Did you recently install AIM, and does your network status icon on your taskbar have a red 'X' with the message "server execution failed"?

2/4/2008 6:30:15 AM

Have you tried playing files with VLC media player?

2/4/2008 10:54:00 AM

^^ i did not recently install aim but i am getting that red 'X'

^ yep tried that with no avail

edit:

^^^ worked thanks a lot!

[Edited on February 4, 2008 at 11:35 AM. Reason : .]

2/4/2008 11:31:35 AM

Glad it helped.

here's the solution for anyone not interested in clicking the link

Quote :

"Go to Start: Type in Sound. Open up the Sound You will see probably one of two speakers - If you have Vista Home then it should be the standard Sigmatel. Right click on it and go to Properities. I advanced, uncheck the box that says "allow applications to take exclusive control of this device""

2/4/2008 1:31:19 PM

Here is some information on how to fix the "red x" problem. It is a widespread Vista bug that normally appears when AIM 6.0 and/or Viewpoint Media Player is installed.

Link: http://forums.microsoft.com/technet/showpost.aspx?postid=1185469&siteid=17&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=20

This problem hoses Vista's WMI, making many applications not work properly; hopefully you will be able to get it fixed; I had to do a complete reformat.

A good idea would be to use Acronis TrueImage and backup your computer reguarly until Microsoft and AOL get their shit together.

2/5/2008 12:14:15 AM