Windows Media Player not reinstalling correctly

I had a WMP icon in my taskbar that was working fine. Somehow I accidentally removed it. When I tried to reinstall WMP, the WMP window appears, but it's empty. I tried uninstalling it and then reinstalling it a few times through Control Panel's Programs and Features. That didn't work. Audio and video drivers are up to date. I also tried to restore with an earlier restore point, which didn't solve the problem. Sfc /scannow also came up clean. How can I get WMP to work correctly? Thanks.

sometimes you have to run sfc three times.

Three times? I can't tell if you're joking. It is April Fool's Day.

Well, if it's a prank, you got me. Either way, three times came out OK with no integrity violations.

No prank, sometimes you have to run it a few times,its the same with a repair install sometimes.

uninstall it then run windows installer cleanup utility- ancient program published in 99 that you can find on microsoft technet i believe.(google search; should be the 3rd result) this has helped me with a few issues even in windows 7. I.E. an autocad mechanical 2011 failed install on a brand new elitebook with win 7 enterprise. laptop got bumped while installing and disc jumped in the tray so a couple files were corrupted. each time it said it uninstalled correctly but the reinstallation always failed half way through until i ran the cleanup utility. like i said its ancient but powerful and surprisingly compatible with the win7 installation structure

Is the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility like the Microsoft FixIt program?

no. it is does similar stuff but is manual and more powerful. i attached the installer.
50/50 chance this will work or even find the WMP install files after you uninstall it but its worth a try.
you need to run as admin or will get a runtime error due to its old age.
after it installs it will be located in

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Installer Clean Up\
run the .exe called msicuu.exe

it will show all installs on your pc and many programs uninstalled as well.

make sure you remove media player before running this.
afterwards reinstall media player and hopefully you will be back up and running

wont work- i just tested this on my pc and WMP doesnt show up. most likely because it is a component and not a software installation.

until a solution comes to light you might want to just try the Media Player classic theater edition. freeware project based off of the original media player. its what i use instead of the normal huge WMP on my pc.

pretty versatile and powerful player. you can also get it in the mega pack version of K-Lite codec pack for high quality shaders and filters and tons of available customizations

Media Player Classic - Home Cinema - Video Player - media player classic Freeware project

Codec Guide: K-Lite Codec Pack - For XP, Vista, Windows 7 and 8 - k-lite codec-comes with mp classic available optionally during the install

Thanks, willymcmahon. Yeah, it found a lot of programs, but not WMP!I'll try the media player classic.