Windows 7: How to open WMP 12 in maximized Library, not minimized Now Playing?

When I open Windows Media Player 12, it starts up in the Player Library, then immediately shrinks down to a small Now Playing window.

Since I haven't selected any music yet, the Now Playing window is useless and annoying.

I've looked around online and in this forum, but I still haven't found out how to make Windows Media Player start in an enlarged Player Library window. I've gone to Properties and selected Run: Maximized in the Shortcut menu. That doesn't seem to work.

Can anyone give me detailed, step-by-step instructions on how I can get Windows Media Player 12 to start up in a maximized Library window, instead of immediately shrinking down to the Player window?

This is quite an odd one. WMP12 to my knowledge doesn't have an option to specifically start in a specific mode, at least none that I can find.
What exact build are you using? (Help --> About )

Just found this link which describes how to force WMP to do as its told with a simple target line fix.
Why media player 12 always automatically switches to 'Now Playing' mode everytime I open it now?


1. Click Start button -> All Programs, right click on Windows Media Player and click Properties.
2. On the Shortcut tab, note the Target box. Does it shows like %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1 //Task:NowPlaying"? If so, delete the /Task:NowPlaying and click OK.
If it does not work, you can try resettings Windows Media Player as below:

I'm using Windows 7 Build 6.1 (Build 7601)
Windows Media Player is the most recent version, 12.0.7601.17514

Here's my Shortcut menu's Target box: "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1

I've tried the other suggestion:
1. Open Control Panel/Programs and Features.
2. Click "Turn Windows features on or off" in the left pane.
3. Expand "Media Features", uncheck "Windows Media Player". Click "Yes" to continue, and click OK to quit. Then Restart.

After restarting, I had to go back and re-check Windows Media Player. It still starts in the small "Now Playing" mode.

Is there a command line I can put into the Target box that would tell Windows Media Player to start in the Library mode?

I've tried adding /Task MediaLibrary to the end of the Target box command. It looked like this:

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1/Task MediaLibrary

I also tried it with a space between Media Library:

"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /prefetch:1/Task Media Library

I've tried playing with a colon and spaces: "/Task: MediaLibrary" or "/Task:MediaLibrary" or "/Task: Media Library"

None worked

The fix you tried is supposed to do exactly that. WMP should only be starting in Now Playing if the target contains that line "Task:NowPlaying". This is one of those absolutely bizarre issues that crops up when you know it shouldn't be happening, but nonetheless it does. I recently had it myself (see my first posts on this forum where I was having trouble with a partition. My computer wouldn't even let me complete step one.)

I have no further suggestions I'm afraid