Another Media Player Problem with Win 7

Just suddenly I've been unable to start up Windows Media Player on Win
7. I click on the icon and get a small rotating circle which then
quickly disappears. If I double click on say a AVI file I get a
message stating "Server execution failed."

This used to work OK. At least I can use Media Player Classic, VLC,
and even Windows Live Movie Maker.

I understand that this is a problem for many others but that MS are
apparently ignoring the issue.

What with Flash Play 10 not working, and now WMP I have wasted so much
time on getting these apps. to work which is another reason why I
don't like Win 7. So much so that on my new Acer netbook I'm going to
try and remove Win 7 and replace it with XP or better Linux.

Chris B.