Just like IE, We can see 2 windows media player in program files folders, both 32 bit and 64 bit version. And it seems that windows 7 runs windows media player 32 bit by default. However there is no shortcut for wmp 64 bit version. I wonder if I can run the wmp 64 bit by default?
IIRC simply right click on your selected file type say AVI file and select "Open with" and browse the program files folder for the x64 version of wmp. Select "always use this program"
tried your method... but unfortunately it still run the 32 bit version... the only way i can run the 64 bit version is to open the 64 bit exe file and browse the media files...
You need to run "command prompt" as administrator and run this command... unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64 Then use the "open with.." for the media file and browse to 64bit WMP!
Ok, used the command prompt, and now there are 2 instances of WMP in the "open with" options. Problem is, they both look exactly alike. How to tell which is which?
I found this information: You need to perform 2 steps each to swap to 64-bit version or to undo the change back to 32-bit version WMP. The unregmp2.exe command (first step) changes the operating system shortcuts to point to WMP 64bit, while the second registry step changes the file associations default program to WMP64-bit, which determines which program will be used when you double click on a media file. Open an Elevated Command Prompt, type unregmp2 /SwapTo:64 and press Enter. Then, open the Registry Editor (regedit), then navigate to the the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe. Set the registry subkey Path to be %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player, and the (Default) subkey to “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe” (include quotes). To undo the x64 change, open an Elevated Command Prompt, type unregmp2 /SwapTo:32 and press Enter. Then, open the Registry Editor, and reset the value for registry subkey of Path and (Default). With either one of two methods, you will have complete full x64 Windows Media Player experience. It seems to work fine, but I still can't figure out how to tell the difference between the two.
64-bit Windows ship with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, but runs the 32-bit version of these programs by default. Why ? Because they'd be no advantage in running the 64-bit version... I hope Internet Explorer will never need to use more than 3 GiB memory !!! but there is a major inconvenient in running the 64-bit version : all plugins / activeX components (for IE) and codecs (for WMP) are 32-bit, so if you run the 64-bit, you can't use any plugin (Flash, Acrobat...) and any third-party codec in WMP... so both 64-bit IE and WMP are pretty much useless without third party plugins/codecs, explaining why Microsoft disabled them by default.