MS Media Player GUID

Overview

MS Media Player GUID is a warning that the Window Media player may transmits an anonymous Global Uniquie IDentifier (GUID) to the streaming servers when you download content.

The following is the information given at Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-029 which applies to Windows Media Player 6.4 and Windows Media Player 7.1: "... a potential privacy vulnerability that was recently identified. This issue could be exploited by a malicious set of web sites to distinguish a user. While this issue would not by itself enable a web site to identify the user, it could enable the correlation of user information to potentially build a composite description of the user." Source

The ID is generated by the Windows Media Player setup program, via standard operating system functions, and it is stored by Windows Media Player for logging. The ID is stored in the registry at this location: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Player \ Settings \ Client ID". The ID can be re-generated when upgrading the Media player.

The existance of this ID in the registry does not imply that it is transferred to web sites to distinguish a user, but I recommend to check the Media Player settings and then remove the ID as outlined below.

Detection

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner does not detect MS Media Player GUID.

How to remove the GUID

1. Go to www.windowsupdate.com and install all critical updates and service packs. Go on with the following steps if Bazooka still reports MS Media Player GUID.
2. Windows Media Player 6.4 users: the privacy setting is selected via a new option, which can be reached by going to the menu item View / Options then selecting the player tab and de-selecting "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player".
3. Windows Media Player 7.1 users: the privacy setting is toggled via the existing option under the tools menu, on the player tab and deselect the option "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player".
4. Windows Media Player 9.0 users: Click Tools -> Options -> Privacy, uncheck "Send unique Player ID to content providers."
5. If Bazooka still reports MS Media Player GUID, go on with the following steps.
6. Start the registry editor. This is done by clicking Start then Run. (The Run dialog will appear.) Type regedit and click OK. (The registry editor will open.)
7. Delete 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Player \ Settings \ Client ID'.
8. Exit the registry editor.

Problems uninstalling? Click here.

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Contact information for MS Media Player GUID's vendor

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