WMP 10 Won't Play Video With WMV File But Plays Sound OK

I downloaded several "On-demand TechNet Webcast" files (wmv files) but when I
try to play them in WMP 10 or WinAmp I get to hear the sound but get no
picture on my laptop running Win XP Pro SP2. I have a desktop PC running Win
XP Pro SP1 and WMP 9 and all the videos play fine (video and audio). I
recently reformatted and reinstalled everything on this laptop and WMP 9 was
playing videos (including wmv files) fine. When I tried to play these files
and wasn't getting any video I upgraded to WMP 10 but it did not help. I have
looked through the KB and downloaded and installed the MS codec package to no
avail. This happened before on this laptop and I just resorted to using the
desktop for these but I am getting tired of having to reload the OS from
scratch (and going through activation) to get video playing again. Obviously,
since this is a laptop, it is sometimes necessary for me to be able to play
videos on it when in meetings, etc.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

Note to anyone who encounters this problem:
After reading through several other issues not directly related to this one
I am happy to say that I stumbled upon the simple answer for this... decrease
the video acceleration. Go to Tools, Options, and select the Performance tab
and throttle it back half way. If you are having display issues this should
be your first stop.
Good luck.