Sometimes you will need to rebuild your library in Windows Media Player on Windows 7. Here’s how.
Update: Microsoft has ended support for Windows 7. You should be using Windows 10 or above. But do note that Windows 10 still includes Windows Media Player. You just need to search for it.
If you have an Xbox 360 or a Windows Mobile phone, then your best bet on syncing all your music and media would be Windows Media Player 12. Sadly enough, you may have already encountered problems refreshing your library and keeping things tidy. But, with these simple steps, you can rebuild your music library in just a few clicks.
How To Rebuild The Windows Media Player 12 Library
Step 1 – Disable The Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
First of all, make sure that Windows Media Player is closed. To start, click the Windows Start Menu Orb and type services.msc in the search box. Then press Enter to open the Services window.
From the Services window find the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. To disable it, right-click it and select Stop. A small dialog box may temporarily appear while the process is stopping.
Step 2 – Delete The Library Database File
Keep the Services window open; we’ll need it again, later on, to re-enable this service after we first eliminate a few files.
Open up Explorer and Browse your way to:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player.
From here delete all of the files named CurrentDatabase_***.wmdb and LocalMLS_*.wmdb. (Warning – there are several LocalMLS_*.wmdb files, make sure to delete them all!) (Note – The “*” stands for a random number, the numbers differ on each machine, so we can’t really tell exactly what the file is called. There are only a few files, though, you should find them easily.)
Step 3 – Re-enable The Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
You can now close the Explorer window and get back to the Services window. From the Services window, find the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service again, but this time when Right-Clicking select Start. Again, a small dialog box will temporarily appear while the process enables itself.
Step 4 – Refresh Your Library
Now all you have to do is open up WMP 12 and watch your library rebuild itself. Depending on the number of songs you have, and how fast your computer is this process can take from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. For my little 429-track library, it took less than 2 minutes, which is quick keeping in mind that all my tracks (yes, all of them) are tagged with album art and all other information.
Conclusion:
This trick will certainly help you whenever you’re having library problems with WMP 12. But let’s hope that we can forget all about Media Player issues and other annoying problems once Service Pack 1 For Windows 7 is bought out to the public.
Local time11:16 PMPosts4OS Win 11 Pro
I followed the instructions to rename my library, but when I closed the settings panel and returned to it again, the name had been reset to . Windows 11, Version 21H2, OS build 22000.1219. OS Win 11 Pro Computer type PC/Desktop CPU I7-9700 Motherboard MSI MEG Z390 ACE Memory 32GB Graphics Card(s) EVGA GTX 1660 Ti SC Ultra Monitor(s) Displays LG E2241, ASUS VS229 Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 4 HDD, Samsung 840 PRO, 860 PRO-512GB, WD SN750 M.2 nVME-1TB PSU EVGA Supernova G3 850 80+ gold Case Phanteks 600S Cooling
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Local time 10:16 PMPosts6,988OS Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
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I followed the instructions to rename my library, but when I closed the settings panel and returned to it again, the name had been reset to . Windows 11, Version 21H2, OS build 22000.1219. Hello DocDJ, Just to confirm, did you click/tap on OK at the bottom before closing the window to apply the name change?
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Local time11:16 PMPosts4OS Win 11 Pro
DocDJ
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The last few times I was on the options screen the OK/Cancel bar did not appear so I just used the <-. Now it does appear and it works! Thanks VERY much. I don't know what I could have done to make it not work. Thanks again.
My Computer
OS Win 11 Pro Computer type PC/Desktop CPU I7-9700 Motherboard MSI MEG Z390 ACE Memory 32GB Graphics Card(s) EVGA GTX 1660 Ti SC Ultra Monitor(s) Displays LG E2241, ASUS VS229 Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 4 HDD, Samsung 840 PRO, 860 PRO-512GB, WD SN750 M.2 nVME-1TB PSU EVGA Supernova G3 850 80+ gold Case Phanteks 600S Cooling Noctua NF-A15 Keyboard Corsair K95 RGB XT silver Mouse Glorious O Internet Speed 117.62 DL, 11.77 UL Browser Edge, FF Antivirus Windows Defender
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Local time10:16 PMPosts6,988OS Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
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- #5
The last few times I was on the options screen the OK/Cancel bar did not appear so I just used the <-. Now it does appear and it works! Thanks VERY much. I don't know what I could have done to make it not work. Thanks again. You're most welcome. I'm glad you got it
sorted out.
My Computers
OS Windows 11 Pro for Workstations Computer type PC/Desktop Manufacturer/Model Custom self build CPU Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz Motherboard ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390 Memory 16 GB (8GBx2) G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 MHz Graphics Card(s) ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING Sound Card Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF) Monitor(s) Displays 2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27" Screen Resolution 2560x1440 Hard Drives 1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
1TB Samsung 980 PRO M.2,
6TB WD Black WD6001FZWX
8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS PSU Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W Case Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted Cooling Corsair Hydro H115i Keyboard Logitech wireless K800 Mouse Logitech MX Master 3 Internet Speed 1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload Browser Google Chrome Antivirus Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium Other Info Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
Linksys EA9500 router,
Motorola MB8611 cable modem,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G phoneOperating System Windows 11 Pro for Workstations Computer type Laptop Manufacturer/Model HP Spectre x360 2in1 CPU i7-1065G7 3.9 GHz Memory 16 GB LPDDR4-3200 Graphics card(s) Intel Iris Plus Sound Card Intel SST Monitor(s) Displays 13.3" 4K UWVA AMOLED multitouch Screen Resolution 3840 x 2160 Hard Drives 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Browser Google Chrome Antivirus Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium