subject: Enabling or Disabling Automatic Update Message of Media Player [print this page] Windows automatically checks the Internet for updates to improve its performance. One of these updates is for the Windows Media Player. Even though you may not be using Windows Media Player, some components of it are used by other programs on your computer to perform various tasks. There may be important updates to prevent a virus attack on your computer or improve the computer's performance.
Windows alerts the user of a pending update by displaying messages on a balloon that pops up as soon as the Windows Update centre detects an update. The balloon seeks confirmation of the user whether or not to update. These update messages may be irritating if you are working on an important project or have a deadline. You may then want to perform a registry change to suppress the automatic message balloons.
On the other hand, if you are in favor of keeping your computer up to date and would like to be reminded whenever something new is up on the Net, then the registry tweak mentioned below can be used to enable the updates.
Important: The following steps modify the registry. But, registry modification is serious business as it is irreversible and may harm the computer if done incorrectly. Therefore, if you are unsure, please consult a computer repair technician or follow the instructions of a remote pc support expert. To safeguard your pc, take a back up of the registry again with the help and support of remote computer support company. Then, if there is a problem the registry can be restored to its original state.
Steps to enable or disable Windows Media Player Automatic Update Message
Click on Start ->Run. Type Regedit and press the Ok button.
This opens the registry editor window. On the left pane are a number of folders. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and expand this folder by clicking on the + next to it.
Browse down to the SOFTWARE folder and expand it, again by clicking on the + sign. This folder contains the list of software in the computer.
Scroll down till you find the MICROSOFT folder. Open this folder to find the MEDIA PLAYER folder.
Within this folder is the PlayerUpgrade folder. Click on it once to display its contents on the right hand pane.
You now need to create a new string value. To do this: Right click in the right pane and select New -> String Value.
Name it AskMeAgain.
To give it a value, double click on the name. It brings up a box where you must type No' if you want to disable the pop-up balloon and Yes' if you want to enable the same.
Set the value of EnableAutoUpgrade by double-clicking on it and setting the data value to Yes'. This will ensure that the upgrades will take place automatically even though the messages for upgrading are not displayed.
Exit the Registry window and reboot your computer for changes to be effective.
Ask for computer tech support if you are unable to follow these instructions. An online computer repair company such as fixit99.com provides you detailed instructions through experts to help your computer serve you better. Remember, you may disable the pop-up message balloon, but keep upgrading your pc with the latest updates.
Enabling or Disabling Automatic Update Message of Media Player
