Windows Media Player stores the last opened directory (only if you open a file and play it) in a registry value named OpenDir. But, if you click File - Open and cancel the dialog once, the last open directory is reset to C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player

To set the OpenDir to your preferred location every time you launch Windows Media Player, you may use this script. Copy the following contents to Notepad, and save as "wmp.vbs". Double-click wmp.vbs to launch Windows Media Player.

You may place the VBS in your Quick Launch folder for easy access. The "StartDir" is set to F:\Album. Modify the path accordingly in the script.


Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

StartDir = "F:\Album"

WshShell.RegWrite _

"HKCU\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Settings\OpenDir", StartDir, "REG_SZ"

WshShell.Run "wmplayer", 1,True

Set WshShell = Nothing