JSI Tip 4477. How do I troubleshoot playback issues in Windows Media Player for Windows XP?

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 306317 contains the following summary:

This article contains steps and information about troubleshooting playback issues in Windows Media Player for Windows XP.

Mplayer2 is an extremely useful tool to use in troubleshooting almost all types of Windows Media Player issues; this article describes when and how to use it. If the same symptoms are experienced with Mplayer2 as well as Windows Media Player for Windows XP, it is not a Media Player issue; most likely it is a problem with the content or a driver issue on the system.