I can't reproduce your failure, so I don't have a lot to go on here.
The fact that it's not crashing is somewhat interesting but not helpful
other than as a light scoping of the problem.

Paolo said that running:
regsvr32 jscript.dll
from a CMD.exe prompt Run As Administrator fixed up this issue for him -
does this fix you up?

What changed on the system prior to this happening?

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Gino" <Gino@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9AA18256-583C-4CDE-9ACA-2609F27885FD@microsoft.com...
> Hey there, I've got the same problem, i can't get media player to open
> when I
> click on media files. I have to shut it down in task manager before I use
> it,
> and even then I'll have to repeat that process if I want to open it again
> later. Is this a bug? Is there a patch to fix it? If I open task manager
> it
> sometimes doesnt want to shut WMP down at first .. it dissapears and
> appears
> on the task manager flashing in and out .. maybe catching up because i
> tried
> to open it a few times ..
> ..all in all .. most irritating
>
> "zachd [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>>
>> This sounds like something isn't letting WMP shut down properly - you
>> would
>> definitely want to check for driver updates for your audio and video
>> card.
>> Any time it refuses to shut down, as Rob mentioned, wmplayer.exe should
>> likely be listed in the Processes tab of Task Manager.
>>
>> In theory you may be getting crash or hang information about this in your
>> Problem Reports and Solutions center- that data may have additional
>> useful
>> information.
>>
>> --
>> Speaking for myself only.
>> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>> --
>>
>> "Steve Paddock" <steve.paddock@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:FE50134C-4317-4522-B1FE-AACC6E6F2926@microsoft.com...
>> >I have recently upgraded to Vista Home Premium. For some reason, it now
>> >seems to be pot luck whether whether Windows Media Player will start or
>> >not. When it refuses to start I have tried everything down to
>> >double-clicking the wmplayer .exe file. Not a flicker and no error
>> >messages
>> >are displayed. When it does start I have full functionality until again,
>> >it
>> >refuses. I have tried after cold and hot restarts but there are no set
>> >of
>> >circumstances that guarantee a working application.
>> >
>> > Anyone any ideas please??
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Steve
>>
>>
>>