Fix NS_E_WMP_EXTERNAL_NOTREADY in Windows Media Player

What This Error Means

You're seeing NS_E_WMP_EXTERNAL_NOTREADY (0XC00D0FDC) when Windows Media Player tries to talk to an outside program—like a web browser, an old slideshow app, or a custom media controller. The external object (usually an ActiveX control or COM component) isn't ready to respond.

This pops up most often when you're playing video in Internet Explorer or an embedded app that relies on WMP. It can also show up after a Windows update or a software install that messes with WMP's registry keys.

Below, I've ordered fixes from quickest to deepest. Start with Fix #1. If that doesn't work, move down the list.

Fix #1: Restart Windows Media Player and Your Browser (30 seconds)

Sounds obvious, but it works more often than you'd think. WMP's external object can get stuck after a crash or a hung process.

1. Close all browser windows and any program that uses Windows Media Player (like Windows Media Center or a photo viewer).
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
3. Look for wmplayer.exe in the list. If it's there, right-click it and select End task.
4. Also kill any iexplore.exe or msedge.exe processes that might be holding WMP open.
5. Reopen your browser or app and try again.

Expected outcome: If the issue was a hung process, the error should go away. If not, move to Fix #2.

Fix #2: Re-register the Windows Media Player DLLs (5 minutes)

WMP relies on a bunch of COM DLLs. If one of them is unregistered or corrupted, the external object won't initialize. Running regsvr32 fixes that.

1. Close everything that uses WMP.
2. Press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
3. Run these commands one by one. Hit Enter after each:

regsvr32.exe %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmp.dll
regsvr32.exe %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpeffects.dll
regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\msdxm.ocx
regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\dxmasf.dll

(If you're on 64-bit Windows, you might also need the 32-bit versions. Run these too:)

regsvr32.exe %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player\wmp.dll
regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\msdxm.ocx

For each command, you should see a dialog saying DllRegisterServer succeeded. If you get an error like The module failed to load, that file might be missing. That's a different problem.

Expected outcome: After re-registering, restart your app. The error should be gone. If not, proceed to Fix #3.

Fix #3: Check the ActiveX Security Settings (10 minutes)

If this error shows up in a web browser (especially Internet Explorer or old Edge), the ActiveX control might be blocked by security settings.

1. Open Internet Explorer (yes, it's still there in Windows 10 and 11—search for it in Start).
2. Click the gear icon (top right) and choose Internet Options.
3. Go to the Security tab, select Internet (or Local intranet if that's where your app runs), and click Custom level.
4. Scroll down to ActiveX controls and plug-ins.
5. Set these to Enable (or Prompt if you want to be asked):
   • Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins
   • Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting
6. Also find Allow programmatic clipboard access—set it to Enable or Prompt.
7. Click OK, then Apply.
8. Restart Internet Explorer and reload the page that uses WMP.

Expected outcome: If the error was caused by blocked ActiveX, it should now work. If it still fails, move to Fix #4.

Fix #4: Repair Windows Media Player via Features (15 minutes)

Windows 10 and 11 let you turn WMP on and off. Doing a reinstall often fixes corrupted files without losing anything.

1. Press Windows key + R, type appwiz.cpl, hit Enter.
2. On the left, click Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Scroll down to Media Features, expand it.
4. Uncheck Windows Media Player. Click OK and restart your computer.
5. After restart, go back to the same place and check the box again. Click OK.
6. Windows will reinstall WMP. This may take a few minutes.

Expected outcome: A fresh install of WMP. Test your app—the error should be resolved. If not, you're down to the last resort.

Fix #5: Registry Tweak for External Object Timeout (Advanced, 15+ minutes)

This error sometimes means WMP's external object takes too long to initialize. There's a registry key that controls this timeout. But be careful: messing up the registry can break things. Back it up first.

1. Press Windows key + R, type regedit, hit Enter.
2. Back up: Click File > Export, save a .reg file somewhere safe.
3. Navigate to this key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Settings

   If that doesn't exist, create it under Player.
4. Right-click in the right pane, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name it ExternalObjectTimeout.
6. Double-click it, set the base to Decimal, and enter a value like 5000 (that's 5 seconds). The default is 3000 (3 seconds). If you're on a slow machine, try 10000.
7. Click OK, close Regedit, and restart your computer.

Expected outcome: WMP now waits longer for the external object to respond. This fix works if the error only shows up occasionally or after the system has been running for a while.

If none of that helps, you might be dealing with a deeper corruption—try a System File Checker scan (sfc /scannow from an admin command prompt) or a DISM restore. But those are rare cases. For most people, Fix #2 or Fix #3 does the trick.