Microsoft KB Archive/270617

= Problems Running Windows Media Player 7 or 7.1 with a Date that Is Later than January 18, 2038 =

Article ID: 270617

Article Last Modified on 10/29/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.0
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.1

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This article was previously published under Q270617





SYMPTOMS
When you try to start Windows Media Player 7 or 7.1, you may receive an application error message or a general protection (GP) fault error message, and the program may not start. Note that this may also occur when you try to start the Hwinfo.exe (Hardware Information) tool.



CAUSE
This problem can occur when the system clock is set to any date that is later than January 18, 2038 at 19:14:07 (GMT). Windows Media Player 7 and 7.1 use the Msvcrt.dll C Run-time file, and this file has a limitation with the time/date functions. Time is measured in seconds from January 1, 1970. The variable that is used for this is a 32-bit signed integer, so it has a maximum date of Jan 18, 2038 19:14:07 (or 2^31 seconds, which is 2,147,483,648 seconds) from Jan 1, 1970 00:00:00. Because Windows Media Player 7 and 7.1 depend on time/date routines from the Msvcrt.dll C Run-time file, the time functions do not work, and an error message is generated.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, do not use a system date that is earlier than January 18, 2038.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Keywords: kbprb KB270617

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