Microsoft includes a variety of software on computers with its Windows operating system. Windows Media Player is one of these elements; if you wish to uninstall it to revert to a previous version of the program or use different software entirely, you may not see it in the list of currently installed programs that you would normally access to remove software. However, you can still uninstall Windows Media Player.
Benefits
Uninstalling Windows Media Player can remove or reduce errors that are due to upgrading the program. You can then revert to a previous version of Windows Media Player or use a third-party media player, such as Winamp or iTunes, to enjoy and manage your multimedia. Furthermore, if you uninstall this software and turn off future updates to the software, you can reduce the amount of time it requires for Windows updates to download and complete.
Windows XP
Because the utility that allows you to uninstall programs in Windows XP is less advanced that newer versions of the operating system, it does not include Windows Media Player in the list of programs that you can uninstall. Instead, Microsoft explains that you can uninstall the program by booting into Safe Mode and running an application wizard. Alternatively, you can use the Windows command prompt window to type in code that remove Windows Media Player. However, this specific line will vary between the different versions of Windows Media Player.
Windows Vista/7
It is easier to uninstall Windows Media Player from Windows Vista or 7 because you can use the uninstall tool from the Windows Control Panel directly. If Windows Media Player does not show in the list of programs immediately, click to place a check mark next to "Show Updates" toward the top of the Currently Installed Programs list. This expands the list to show certain entries, such as Windows Media Player or Internet Explorer, and you can then click all entries related to Windows Media Player, and click "Uninstall" to remove the program from your computer.
Considerations
When you uninstall Windows Media Player from your computer, the operating system will take notice and download the software the next time you download Windows updates. Therefore, to remove this program completely from your computer, you must open Windows Update and customize the settings so that Windows stops showing Windows Media Player updates. You should also note that if you are trying to roll back to a previous version of Windows Media Player from WMP 11, you may not be able to do so if a third-party program -- such as CCleaner -- has deleted the hidden folder "$NtUninstallwmp11$".
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