OK Newbiekid, first update !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Went to first link i gave you :
http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-software/4907-uninstall-re-install-media-player-12-a.html
and opened the first link on second comment in thread :
http://techie-buzz.com/hacks-and-mods/how-to-uninstall-windows-media-player-12-on-windows-7.html
NOW, while reading through the comments below the procedure to see how other people got on, it seems the procedure is primarily aimed at Windows 7 32bit !!!!!
A bit further down the comments list was this :
" Val
Hey guys! I discovered how to uninstall windows media player 12 from windows 7 without a scratch!!!
1- Go to control Panel
2- Choose programs and feature (not uninstall)
3- CHoose Turn Windows Feature On or Off on the left of the screen
4- Find Media Features
5- Unmark Media Features then press Ok
6- Simply restart, and reinstall media player 11 (or the one you’d like)
(Sorry for my bad English, I’m usually speaking french
😀) "
This works as advertised on the tin, i have followed the procedure outlined above, although I only selected to remove Windows Media Player ( and not media center or windows DVD maker) and it has removed WMP12 ( as well as media centre as this depends on WMP12 ! ); asked to restart, and now NO WMP12 ( or media centre ( weeps :-/ ).
Did a ccleaner registry clean to remove the now redundant registry entries for WMP WMC and shutdown and restarted again!
So, so far so good, gonna download WMP 11 and install. Then gonna try to uninstall and replace WMP 12 and Media Center by doing the reverse of the procedure outlined above.
Will update again soon.
PS, as an ASIDE, THIS IS WHY ITS VERY IMPORTANT TO SPECIFY UPFRONT WHICH VERSION OF WIN 7 YOU ARE USING, CAN SAVE MUCH UNNECESSARY GRIEF !!!