How to Get Windows Media Player (WMP) 12 Taskbar Toolbar (Taskband) Back in Windows 7 and Later?

NOTE: This tutorial will also work in Windows 8 and later.

We know “Windows 7” comes with Windows Media Player 12 version which contains lots of new features and also the interface is a bit different from previous versions. But it doesn’t provide taskbar toolbar aka mini toolbar which was one of the best thing in previous versions of Windows Media Player. Taskbar toolbar in WMP allows you to access the media player right from the Taskbar. You can minimize WMP window and can access it using the mini-toolbar which is displayed in Taskbar.

If you are also using Windows 7 and missing the good old Taskbar Toolbar aka Taskband in Windows Media Player 12 (WMP 12), here is something very interesting for you.

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Today in this article, we are going to share a small and easy to use trick which will help you in bringing back the taskbar toolbar in WMP 12 as shown in following screenshot:

WMP12_Mini_Taskbar_Toolbar_Taskband.png

Here are the step-by-step instructions to enable WMP 12 Taskbar Toolbar in Windows 7:

1. Actually Taskbar Toolbar or Taskband is stored in a DLL file called “wmpband.dll” which is found in “Windows Media Player” directory present in “Program Files” folder. Microsoft removed this DLL file from WMP 12 folder, that’s why the toolbar no longer exists in Windows 7.

You can copy this DLL file from WMP 11 folder present in Windows Vista to Windows 7. If you don’t have access to a Vista system, you can directly download it from following link:

2. Once you download the above ZIP file, extract it and you’ll get the required DLL file for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions.

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For 32-bit (x86) users:

Copy the wmpband.dll file present in “32-bit or x86” folder and paste it to “Windows Media Player” directory present in “Program Files” folder. Just type %programfiles%\Windows Media Player in Explorer addressbar and press enter and it’ll open the “Windows Media Player” directory.

Copy_WMPBand_dll_File.png

For 64-bit (x64) users:

Copy the wmpband.dll file present in “64-bit or x64” folder and paste it to “Windows Media Player” directory present in “Program Files” folder. Just type %programfiles%\Windows Media Player in Explorer addressbar and press enter and it’ll open the “Windows Media Player” directory. You’ll also need to copy the same DLL file toย %programfiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player folder.

3. Now right-click on Computer icon on desktop and select Manage, it’ll open a new window. Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. You can also open the same from Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. Or you can directly open “Services” list by providing services.msc command in RUN or Start Menu search box.

Now right-click on “Windows Media Player Network Sharing” service and select “Stop“. It’ll stop the service.

WMP_Network_Sharing_Service.png

4. Now you’ll need to register “WMPBand.dll” file.

First open Command Prompt as Administrator using the steps given here. Now type following commands one by one and press Enter:

regsvr32 “%programfiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll”
regsvr32 “%programfiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player\wmpband.dll”

5. Start “Windows Media Player Network Sharing” service again using Services Manager.

6. That’s it. Now run Windows Media Player and minimize it. Now right-click on Taskbar andย select “Toolbars -> Windows Media Player” option and ready to enjoy the Taskbar Toolbar aka Taskband in Windows 7.

Thanks to “Justin Buser” @ WinMatrix for sharing it…

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. It didn’t work for me. When I was about to register, it said that there was an error. I tried both but the same thing happened. Help?

  2. Hello
    Anyway of doing this for Windows 10 1607 x64? Tried the above steps but although got the Windows Media Player toolbar option, it did not show in my taskbar when selected

  3. Thank You Very Much!! Still Working in 2016.12.26 !!

    I Hope Your 2017 Will Very Nice Year !!!

    Im searching this for 2 years and I found here !! Thank You Very Much !!

  4. Thanks again to you guys and “Justin Buser” @ WinMatrix. It works perfectly and exiting the maximized window will get rid of the win7 and later Taskbar Icon leaving the band alone on the right ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Finally, someone who knows how to make this work on Windows 7 64 bit professional!!!! You’re the only one I found who’s procedure actually worked. Everyone else forgot to mention BOTH Program Files folders! Thank you for your consistently accurate advice on all things 7.

  6. Wow dang, can’t believe it was possible the whole time!? thanks for going thru the time and effort for this tutorial.

    Really appreciate it :)))

  7. had some trouble, but worked fine, thanks. don’t forget to close an reopen the wmp after completing all the steps above

  8. thank you dude,… this is really working. if you guys are having any issues with command prompt, please run as administrator. thanks again

  9. Thank you SO MUCH! I just love this feature and I really missed it. Now I have it back! THANK YOU!!!!

  10. If you are using Windows 10 & still have problems getting the dll to register you can use the following in command promote with Administrator privileges.

    secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose

    Just copy & paste in cmd

  11. As Cyber Toon noted, WMP needs to be minimised before Step 6 = “Toolbars -> Windows Media Player”

    Thanks, to all ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. Hello,
    Is there a way to keep the “mini” viewer windows always on top of other apps from the taskbar in Windows 7?

  13. Still working on Windows 10 Insider ‘Skippy’ 18290.1000! ๐Ÿ™‚

    @Vishal:
    Any way to make this launch at Startup?

  14. “^^ Do you want to start Windows Media Player at system startup?”

    Sort of……

    I’d like the WMP Taskband to be on the Taskbar with whatever I was listening to last time, every time I boot up.

  15. I did everything the way described and it worked for a day. I guess when I restarted the computer it had the small icon on the taskbar instead of the mini player. I tried doing the process again, but to no avail. Then I did what Sammy said and that worked! I have Windows 10 on a Lenovo desktop.

    sammy

    works on windows 10 tech preview. You have to open a movie with WMP 12 then minimize it, then right click on tool bar and under toolbars select windows media player. Close the minimized WMP 12 and press play on the toolbar player. BAM!

  16. Just tried this in windows 10..and it does NOT work….
    I do not have the windows media player in my toolbar list at all…. >:^(

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