We couldn't connect to the internet using Media Player

Right you can wait for the next update or submit a feedback. While it may not guarantee a fix for legacy Windows Media Player, submitting feedback is the only official channel that can get this regression logged internally.

Windows Feedback Hub

This goes directly into Microsoft’s internal bug/telemetry system.

Steps

Press Win + F (or search for Feedback Hub in Start)

Click Report a problem

Category:

• Apps
• Windows apps

App:

• Windows Media Player (Legacy)

What to write (you can copy/paste this)

• Title

Windows Media Player can no longer retrieve CD metadata after latest Windows 11 security update

• Description

After installing the most recent Windows 11 security update, Windows Media Player (version 11.2510.7.0) can no longer connect to Microsoft’s CD metadata service.

Error shown: “We couldn’t connect to the service. Check your internet connection then try again.”

Internet connectivity is working normally. Browsers and iTunes on the same system successfully retrieve CD metadata from the internet (Gracenote), confirming this is not a network or firewall issue.

This appears to be a regression or backend service compatibility issue affecting legacy Windows Media Player. The feature worked correctly prior to the update.

Then Add a comment to an existing report, after submitting, search Feedback Hub for:

Windows Media Player metadata

If you find a similar report:

Click Upvote

Add a comment with your Windows version and WMP version

Multiple upvotes increases visibility.

What broke is the backend metadata service path that Windows Media Player relies on, and the latest Windows Security Update flipped a switch that finally exposed it.

There's a workaround but it may stop working permanently.

Registry Editor (Admin)

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp

Create DWORD (32-bit):

DefaultSecureProtocols

Set value to:

0x00000A00

Reboot

This forces WinHTTP to re-enable TLS 1.1/1.2 fallback that WMP depends on.

Windows Media Player is officially deprecated

CD metadata is now handled by:

• Media Player (new app)
• Groove backend (partially retired)

WMP 11.x receives security patches only, no service compatibility updates. The behavior matches previous silent retirements (e.g., DVD metadata, album art fetch).

Thanks for sharing the details, brian! Try to reset WinHTTP proxy

Even if you never set a proxy, Windows Updates, VPNs, or security tools often do.

Steps

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

Run this command exactly:

• netsh winhttp reset proxy

Restart your PC

Insert the CD again and open Media Player

This alone fixes metadata lookup for many users.

See if this helps. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly

It seems that you are experiencing issues with Windows Media Player not being able to connect to the internet and retrieve metadata for CDs. Here are a few steps you can try to resolve the issue:

1. Check Internet Connection: Although you've verified your internet connectivity through other browsers, ensure that Windows Media Player is allowed to access the internet through your firewall settings.
2. Add to Trusted Sites: If you are using Windows Media Player to access online services, consider adding the relevant URLs to the Trusted sites zone in Internet Explorer. This can sometimes help with connectivity issues.
3. Authentication: Make sure you are authenticated to Microsoft services if applicable. You can do this by signing into your Microsoft account and ensuring that the "Keep me signed in" option is selected.
4. Restart Services: If you suspect that a Microsoft background service needs to be restarted, you can try restarting your computer or manually restarting the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service from the Services application.
5. Repair Media Player: Since you have already selected the repair option from App settings, if the issue persists, you might consider resetting Windows Media Player settings or reinstalling it if possible.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to check for any updates for Windows Media Player or consider using an alternative media player that can retrieve metadata successfully, as you mentioned iTunes works fine for that purpose.