How to remove the MPEG-4 Encoder multimedia feature from a Windows XP Embedded run-time image (917576)

INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Windows XP Embedded no longer includes the MPEG-4 Encoder multimedia feature. Because of new licensing restrictions for this third-party multimedia encoder, you may prefer to remove the feature from Windows XP Embedded devices instead of paying royalties to MPEG LA. For more information about MPEG LA and about how to license the MPEG-4 Encoder, visit the following Web site:

http://www.mpegla.com

Note This article only applies to Windows XP Embedded configurations that include the Microsoft Windows Media Player 8 or the Windows Media Player 9 component in the Target Designer. The Wmvdmoe.dll file was removed as a file resource dependency in the Windows Media Player 10 component. Therefore, this file is not present in your configuration if you use the Windows Media Player 10 component.

For more information about how to obtain the Windows Media Player 10 component for Windows XP Embedded, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

907507 Availability of the Windows Media Player 10 component update for Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 2

MORE INFORMATION

When you include the Windows Media Player 8 component or the Windows Media Player 9 component in a Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 2 (SP2) configuration, the run-time image contains one of the following files in the %windir%\System32 folder:

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time
Wmvdmoe.dll	8.00.00.4477	446,464	17-Aug-2001	21:36
Wmvdmoe.dll	8.00.00.4487	446,464	17-Jan-2003	10:53

Note Both of these files are licensed by MPEG LA.

How to remove the Wmvdmoe.dll file

To remove the MPEG-4 Encoder multimedia feature, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Manually remove the Wmdvdmoe.dll file

You can manually remove the Wmvdmoe.dll file from the run-time image. Modify your build or setup process to delete the Wmvdmoe.dll file in the %windir%\System32 folder. You do not have to rebuild the image in Target Designer.

Important If you manually remove the Wmvdmoe.dll file, make sure that you do not remove the Wmvdmoe2.dll file. The Wmvdmoe2.dll file is not affected by licensing issues.

Method 2: Use Target Designer to disable the Wmvdmoe.dll file resource

You can use Target Designer to disable the Wmvdmoe.dll file resource in the device configuration. To do this, follow these steps:

Start Target Designer.
In the configuration editor pane, expand MyDevice, expand Components, and then expand Windows Media Player.
Click Files.
In the Target Name column, right-click Wmvdmoe.dll, and then click Disable.
On the Configuration menu, click Build Target Image to rebuild the image.

No risk of destabilizing the run-time image exists when you remove the Wmvdmoe.dll file from the run-time image. No other Windows XP Embedded or Windows features depend on this file. For example, the Wmvdmoe.dll file is not related to any First Boot Agent (FBA) actions, such as Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) registration.

Note We recommend that you delete the Wmvdmoe.dll file from your master run-time image before you perform mass deployment. If your device uses the Enhanced Write Filter (EWF), you may have to temporarily disable the EWF when you update a device that has already been deployed.