10 Ways To Fix “Server Execution Failed” On Windows Media Player

The Windows Media Player (WMP), in an attempt to access necessary system files and services, may face memory allocation glitches. This can cause the “server execution failed” error prompt to appear.

WMP Network Service can also run into this error because of connectivity issues if media streaming is enabled. Such issues can be troubleshot by avoiding the use of proxy servers, firewalls, VPNs, Anti-virus, etc.

Sometimes inbuilt Windows Troubleshooter and system file recovery tools can swiftly fix the issue. In any case, this article will guide you through all the necessary solutions required to resolve the “server execution failed” error.

Table of Contents

How to Fix “Server Execution Failed” on Windows Media Player?

Before moving on, you can try to restart Windows Media Player. If that doesn’t work, reboot your computer once to fix temporary glitches.

Run Windows Store App Troubleshooter

Windows provides various troubleshooters to ease and automate the process of detecting and resolving problems. As this issue is related to Windows Media Player (a Windows Store app), you can use the Windows troubleshooter to fix solvable errors.

Open Settings with Windows + I keys.
Go to Troubleshooter within the System menu.
Then, head to Other troubleshooters.
Press the Run button within Windows Store Apps.

Restart Process

When you open Windows media player, wmplayer.exe and related processes run to make up the whole application. But sometimes, processes open incorrectly if some error hinders them from accessing all their associate files.

Though normally restarting an application would fix the scenario, their processes can run in the background, which stops Windows from subsequent opening of the application. So, you will have to end the Windows media player task and restart it from Task Manager.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open Task Manager.
Right-click on the Windows Media Player and choose End Task to stop it.
Now, click on Run new task.
Type wmplayer.exe and hit Enter to run the media player.

Run SFC and DISM

Windows Media Player can show the server execution if the system files it’s trying to access are damaged or missing. To fix them, you can try running the in-built sfc and dism commands to repair system files and Windows Image files simultaneously.

Press Windows + R keys to open Run.
Type cmd and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter for Command Prompt.
Confirm the prompt with the Yes button.
Then, follow it by using the command to fix the Windows Image.
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Run the following command to inspect corrupt system files and repair them:
sfc /scannow

Disable/Restart WMPNetworkSvc

WMPNetworkSvc is the service that manages connectivity for Windows Media Player. If it is running in the background to establish a connection for unintended media streaming, the “server execution failed” error can show up. To fix it, you can manually disable the service.

Open Run, type services.msc , and hit Enter for Services utility.
Navigate to Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
Right-click on it and choose Stop to halt the service.
Click Properties and choose Disabled from the Startup type dropdown menu
Press Apply and OK.

Or if you want to stream media from a network or other I/O devices, restart the service after you stop it on the 3rd step. You can restart it by choosing Start after right-clicking on the Service.

Register Necessary dll Files

jscript.dll and vbscript.dll are two important libraries that Windows Media Player uses for execution. But in order to access them, they should be registered in the registry. You can run simple commands to register the dll files and fix the error.

Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
Run the following commands:
regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll

Avoid Proxy Server

If you have ever enabled the streaming service of the Windows Media Player, you can get the “server execution failed” error due to the use of a proxy server. As media streaming requires uninterrupted connectivity, a proxy server changing IP addresses can consequent the opposite.

You can prevent WMP from connecting to any proxy server from its network settings.

Open Windows Media Player and cancel the error prompt.
Click to expand the Organize menu and choose Options…
Go to the Network tab and press the Configure… button.
Select Do not use a proxy server if it’s not already, and hit OK.

The above steps can be executed only if WMP opens after canceling the error prompt. But if it doesn’t open, you will have to manually disable the active proxy server for all services.

Disable Firewall

Following the issue of network connectivity, firewalls can also create problems for WMP to establish connections with other computers. If you have implemented firewall settings using any third-party applications, disable it from within the app and check if it resolves the issue.

Sometimes Windows Defender Firewall can also block networks for Windows Media Player. But disabling it totally is a threat to the system. So, you can allow WMPlayer to bypass the firewall rules.

Open Run with Windows + R.
Type cmd for Command Prompt.
Hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter and confirm the prompt to give it admin access.
Run the following command:
Netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=”wmplayer.exe” action=allow dir=in program=”path object of .exe file” enable=yes

Stop VPNs

Server execution problems on Windows Media Player can be caused by active VPNs. These services change the IP address of the computer and can have the same effect on WMP as the proxy servers.

So, you can try to temporarily disable VPN services to check whether they are at the core of the discussed problem.

Reinstall Windows Media Player

Corrupt Windows Media files can also cause the mentioned issue. Incorrectly downloaded files or damaged storage devices are likely to corrupt the WMP files. Reinstallation of the Windows Media Player fixes the issue by dumping the existing files and then installing a healthy set of files.

Press the Windows key to activate Windows Search.
Type Turn off Windows features on or off and hit Enter.
Click to expand the Media Features menu.
Untick the Windows Media Player option.
Click on the Yes button and reboot your system to uninstall WMP.
Then, to reinstall it, Open the same Windows Features utility and tick the Windows Media Player option.
Then, restart your computer. Windows Media Player should install after the reboot.

Update Windows

Windows Media Player has had bugs and compatibility-related issues in the past, which were fixed along with cumulative Windows updates. As such, performing Windows Updates can also potentially resolve this error.

Press Windows + I to open Settings.
Go to Windows Update and press the Check for updates button.
Click on Download & Install button if the update lists. And follow the onscreen prompts to complete the installation.