Windows media player control from Win XP in Win 7

Question

Can I somehow get the taskbar control panel used for Windows Media Player in Vista and XP on Windows 7? When I hover over WMP icon in Windows 7, there is this small window with play/pause, next, previous. On older versions of Windows there used to be this plus volume control and basic info about the file played. Is there a way to have the older (better) control panel on Windows 7?

Answer 1

How to Enable Windows Media Player Taskbar Toolbar in Windows 7

• You will first need to get a copy of the %programfiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll file from a WMP 11 installation. You can obtain it from your friend’s system or you can use the download links provided at the end of this post. Remember that you must copy from a system with the same OS architecture (i.e. 32 bit or 64 bit).

• Paste this file in the %programfiles%\Windows Media Player directory.

• Type services.msc in the Start Menu and hit Enter. Ensure that Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service is stopped.

• Start command prompt as administrator by typing cmd in the Start Menu and pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

• Type regsvr32 “%programfiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll” and press Enter.

• Restart the Windows Media Player Network Sharing service (if you had stopped it earlier on).

• Run Windows Media Player and minimize it. Right click on an empty spot in the taskbar and select Toolbars > Windows Media Player. Ignore the warning and you should get the Windows Media Player taskbar toolbar.

Download Windows Media Player wmpband.dll: 32 bit or 64 bit

Source