I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to 
download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the 
webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows received 
an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.

I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the 
website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have tried 
multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network that 
works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files.

If you download the WMV/WMA files to your system first (right-click the
links - Save Target As), and then open them in WMP, does that work?

Regards

--
Tim De Baets
http://www.bm-productions.tk

ajsiko wrote:
> I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to 
> download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the 
> webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows received 
> an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
> 
> I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the 
> website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have tried 
> multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network that 
> works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files.

You might also want to use the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults 
control panel to set WMP as the default player for WMV/WMA.  What you're 
seeing can be the side effect of a munged file association.

-- 
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--
"ajsiko" <ajsiko@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message 
news:CF25CB5C-EB4F-464A-99A7-45401D7C3A73@microsoft.com...
>I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to
> download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the
> webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows 
> received
> an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
>
> I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the
> website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have 
> tried
> multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network 
> that
> works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files. 

On Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:20:01 -0800, ajsiko
<ajsiko@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to 
>download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the 
>webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows received 
>an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
>
>I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the 
>website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have tried 
>multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network that 
>works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files.

Nope, they're probably right. 403 is a web server error which you
won't be able to fix without notifynig the webmaster of the problem.

404 is "file not found", 403 covers a range of errors :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_403

Usually that's 403.14 (Directory listing denied) which is basically
"we may or may not have a file, but you can't get to it using the URL
you're clicking" - most typically that's when you try to access a
directory (folder) rather than a specific file within the folder.

403.9 "Too many users" (connected to the webserver) is another
frequent error.

To confirm it's a web server error, head to this page
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/316992
and click on any of the links listed as "Click to play a sample"

HTH
Cheers - Neil
------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2010
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

Yes - this works.

"Tim De Baets" wrote:

> If you download the WMV/WMA files to your system first (right-click the
> links - Save Target As), and then open them in WMP, does that work?
> 
> Regards
> 
> --
> Tim De Baets
> http://www.bm-productions.tk
> 
> ajsiko wrote:
> > I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to 
> > download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the 
> > webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows received 
> > an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
> > 
> > I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the 
> > website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have tried 
> > multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network that 
> > works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files.
> .
> 

These defaults were already set.

"zachd [MSFT]" wrote:

> 
> You might also want to use the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults 
> control panel to set WMP as the default player for WMV/WMA.  What you're 
> seeing can be the side effect of a munged file association.
> 
> -- 
> Speaking for myself only.
> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> --
> "ajsiko" <ajsiko@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message 
> news:CF25CB5C-EB4F-464A-99A7-45401D7C3A73@microsoft.com...
> >I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links to
> > download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the
> > webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows 
> > received
> > an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
> >
> > I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the
> > website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have 
> > tried
> > multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home network 
> > that
> > works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files. 
> 
> 
> .
> 

The defaults you see may not be the reality.

If you followed the steps I suggested and REset the association, excellent.
If you did not, it would behoove you to do this.

The UI and your experience can be deceiving.

-- 
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--
"ajsiko" <ajsiko@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message 
news:276C4E51-4CCF-4FE3-A489-24C1C32488E6@microsoft.com...
> These defaults were already set.
>
> "zachd [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>>
>> You might also want to use the Set Program Access and Computer Defaults
>> control panel to set WMP as the default player for WMV/WMA.  What you're
>> seeing can be the side effect of a munged file association.
>>
>> -- 
>> Speaking for myself only.
>> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no 
>> rights.
>> --
>> "ajsiko" <ajsiko@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:CF25CB5C-EB4F-464A-99A7-45401D7C3A73@microsoft.com...
>> >I am running Vista and WMP 11.0.6001.7008.  When clicking website links 
>> >to
>> > download WMA or WMV files, I get an error page 'IE Cannot display the
>> > webpage'.  Clicking 'Diagnose Connection Problems' reports 'Windows
>> > received
>> > an HTTP error message 403 (Forbidden)'.
>> >
>> > I have searched for solutions, and they all point to a problem with the
>> > website that I am trying to reach, but I find this doubtful, as I have
>> > tried
>> > multiple sites, and I have an XP system running on the same home 
>> > network
>> > that
>> > works fine  - opening WMP to play the downloaded files.
>>
>>
>> .
>>