Re: WMP 11 Bug


Ignore him. Most of what he's saying isn't true, which is why I put him on
killfile. I respect criticism, but it stops really being interesting when
it's all kinda just hogwash and twisted facts.

I hope you will ignore his trolling: if you *are* getting a crash bucket
number, that'd be great valuable information. If you're not, checking the
video card driver angle is probably a helpful way forward.

I totally respect frustration on all parts, but let's see if it's possible
to get you fixed up first and *then* get back to the rants. =)

Customer feedback in all aspects is a fascinating field.
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#psssupport
has the current routes I know of for WMP - but generally "WMP" falls under
"XP"/"Vista", so those routes can also be applicable. MS Research and a
variety of other teams are looking into great scalable solutions here, but
it's simply not a simple problem. For example, pointing you to MS support
would probably be a disservice if it's the video card driver it seems to be
based upon the information you've provided so far. Fascinating and complex
field - I wish the WMP field was as simple as any other product groups. =)

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Cinna" <Cinna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:D31633CB-F027-43B8-B174-25649741FE73@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As sad as that response was for all of us. It did lift my spirits a bit
to
know that someone else has this problem. The problem isn't limited to
WMP.
I found a few message boards in my searching that noted problems with
reporting bugs on Microsoft software that they sell for Mac. My initial
reaction is well...duh, but the logical side of me wonders why Microsoft
would not focus on the crowd of people that uses their products on their
competitor's OS. I would be biting at their heels for their business and
hope that it converted a few.

"Dale" wrote:

"Cinna" wrote:

For the most part WMP 11 serves the same purpose that the other
versions did
and thats playing video files (for me that is). I'm running this in
Windows
Vista Business 64-bit. I'd be more than happy to report an issue with
this
play to Microsoft, but apparently they don't care what I have to say
since 30
minutes of online searching has gotten me no closer to a bug reporting
website.

They don't have a bug reporting website. The Windows Media Player
product
team is the only major product group in all of Microsoft who does not
provide
any means for their customers to report bugs or suggestions. In fact,
they
also do not monitor these newsgroups officially and reports of bugs and
suggestions made here fall on deaf ears.

While there really is no way at all to communicate with the Windows Media
Player product team, you do have the option of calling Microsoft product
support and speaking with a call center employee who will surely
apologize on
Microsoft's behalf that you're having problems with Windows Media Player.
After delivering the apology, that person will have no ability to forward
your bug report directly to the Windows Media Player product team but if
he
can convince enough levels of supervisors that a bug exists, there is a
chance that the bug could get forwarded to the Windows Media Player
product
team.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. For the privilege of reporting a bug to
the
Windows Media Player product team, you must pay Microsoft a fee of
anywhere
from $35 (soon to be $59) up to several hundred dollars depending on your
support requirements. At the discretion (whim?) of the call center
employee
you speak to, that fee may be waived but don't even bother calling unless
you're prepared to provide a credit card number and prepared to have that
credit card charged.


The error happens most often when a video file is done playing and I
close
the player. Immediately after closing the player I receive a pop-up
saying
that "Windows Media Player has stopped working". The problem event
name is
always APPCRASH. The latest exception code is c0000374 with an
exception
offset of 000aa0fb.

What you're describing may not be an unsolvable bug in Windows Media
Player.
You may be able to get some help for that here. I have seen some others
get
good help on reviewing crash information from WMP here and seen some not
get
help.

Of course that doesn't change the frustration you, me, and thousands of
other users feel with the lack of community participation by the Windows
Media Player product team and their refusal to provide any reasonable
means
by which we - their paying customers - can provide suggestions and
feedback
on the product we purchase from them.


It's pretty sad when a company decides they like the weather on Olympus
and
moves themselves far out of reach of the people who use their products.
From
what I've seen in my searches it seems the focus is on low level
support for
the average Joe and troubleshooting that goes nowhere.

It's not all of Microsoft. Most of Microsoft does a fantastic job of
listening to and considering feedback from their customers - even when
they
don't do what I think they should do. It is only the Windows Media
Player
product team who refuses to allow any customer involvement in the
product.

Not once has the
"Check Online for a Solution and Close the Program" button yielded any
results for anything that has gone wrong for me in Vista.

Vista is still new. Hopefully that will chagne but I haven't ever
noticed a
lot of changes in online help in the life of a product.


Am I experiencing a lemon or is this a common bug occurence. If it is
a
lemon...can I get a pc software lemon law please.

Microsoft has a lemon policy. If you purchased Vista retail, you can get
a
refund from Microsoft for sure. I don't know whether other purchase
options
are included in that policy or not. But Vista is a great product with
the
exception of it's integral media player.

Dale


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