Multimedia files not only represent sounds but also videos; For this reason, if at a certain moment we want to listen to music or enjoy good audio on our personal computer, We will only have to open Windows Media Player and select a list of files to enjoy them at that moment with the window minimized.
This could be one of the easiest tasks to perform if these multimedia files only contemplate the audio files; right now we will suggest you a little trick through a procedure in which you will have the possibility to activate Windows Media Player Mini-Player so that it appears minimized in the Windows 7 Taskbar.
Modify Windows 7 settings
Basically that is the task that we have to carry out at this moment, since the objective that we have set ourselves for the moment was eliminated from this version of the operating system when in previous versions, it was one of the easiest tasks to perform. In case you still have Windows XP or Windows Vista, so that you can activate the Windows Media Player mini-player in the Taskbar of your operating system, you should only execute the following steps:
- Click on an empty space on the Task Bar.
- From the contextual options shown, choose Windows Media Player from the "Toolbar" option (see last image of the tutorial).
As you can admire, there are only 2 unique steps that you should perform in these versions of Windows so that you can have the mini player hosted in this space of the «Task Bar»; unfortunately Windows 7 and later versions the situation changes, which is because Microsoft has not certified the compatibility of this software with the different video cards of personal computers. This means that the method that we will suggest below could have certain incompatibilities with your video card, and a black screen may be displayed on the mini-player if such incompatibility exists.
Anyway, well worth a try activate this mini Windows Media Player for Windows 7, something that we suggest you do through a few sequential steps that we explain below:
- For Windows 7 32-bit download to the library from the following link.
- For Windows 7 64-bit download this library from this other link.
- Extract the library and copy it to the Windows Media Player directory located in "Program Files".
- Make the call of the «Services»By searching for the Windows 7 Start Button.
- Look for the option that says: «Player Network Sharing Service ...»And stop it.
- Click on the Windows 7 Start Menu button.
- In the search space type: DCM
- Select the result with the right mouse button and execute it with Administrator permission.
- In the command terminal window register the file that you copied earlier using the command: regsvr32
The image that we have proposed in the upper part represents the result that you should obtain in your version of Windows 7; A confirmation screen about the registration of said command and the library that you copied in the folder we mentioned, is what will appear immediately. With that, the mini Windows Media Player is practically activated, needing a few tricks to see it in action. We recommend that you restart Windows for any changes to take effect.
What we must do now is to locate the Windows Media Player panel in the "Windows 7 Taskbar" using the conventional procedure that we previously suggested for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
In other words, you would just have to right-click on the "Windows 7 Taskbar" and select Windows Media Player from the "Toolbar".
Later you should go to the place where you have a video, to which you should play it with Windows Media Player; the media player window will open immediately, to which you can minimize it, a situation that will automatically activate this mini player that we have installed in the «Taskbar»; You should pay attention to a few icons (in reduced size) within the control panel of this mini-player, which are located towards the right side and that will help you to show or hide the video as well as, to restore the original window of the app.