I've not tried playing film type you name but media player version 11 appears to include that file format ? asf.asx.extensions and many others (not sure about previous versions of MP) you can view it in MP11 by>tools>options>file types>select all>apply>ok, that would be my first avenue to try. I think the file you refer to is only a text shortcut, an instruction to an asf file which then plays video. Download version 11 and see if that works, If dosen't I think it has to be converted to play by renaming it as asf using media creator editor or notepad. Have you tried re-installing the codecs and also Direct x immediately afterwords, they may have become corrupted and this sometimes helps. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/format/codecdownload.aspx or their normal downloads page for codecs. MP 11 installs these any way, alternatively www.wmplugins.com for media editor. For many films I have used NERO>nero recode (if you have it) and changed the format and burned it to disk to play in any dvd player w/o any problem. Also suggest you create a restore point before you change anything