So I'm setting up a new test server, and I notice that during the patch phase, it's taking great pains to install the latest patches for Windows Media Player. "Media Player? On a server?!?", I think. So I set about uninstalling that component.
First I open up the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. No good. Media Player doesn't even show up in the list. "Hm. Must be a Windows component.", I muse. So I click over to the Add/Remove Windows Components dialog. Nothing in there, either.
"Strange...", says me. So I decide that if I remove the executable, all will be OK, anyway. I navigate to "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player" and delete the folder. Or try to. It claims that something in the folder is in use. I'm not watching any movies on the server, so I kind of scratch my head with this one. So I do what I do when I run into this elsewhere. Go into the folder and start deleting files till you find the one that's in use.
I delete every single file in the folder. "Hm. Guess it's not in use." I then empty the recycle bin, close the folder and try to delete the folder again. Again, it tells me that a file is in use. Now I'm wondering if it's the folder that's actually in use, or if there is a hidden file in there. Then I realized I'm showing hidden files already. I open the folder again...
... and the files I deleted have come back.
Lather, rinse, repeat for a few minutes, trying a few different combinations. Then, give up and ask Google.
Within the first few links, I find these gems:
Microsoft's Answer: No, you may not uninstall our software. Thanks for playing!
Annoyances.org: We'll uninstall it anyway. [I have not tested this yet, but see no reason it shouldn't work.]
ZDnet does publish something worthwhile, sometimes: Media Player 'commingling'.
What a load of crap over something that shouldn't be included in a server OS to begin with. Sheesh.
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