WMP Will Not Run, Will Not Uninstall, and Will Not Reinstall

What the heck do I do now?

Here's my system:

Microsoft Windows XP SP2 Home Edition Version 2002
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz 512 MB RAM

Here's my problem:

If I try to RUN Windows Media Player, whether by clicking on a wmv file or
selecting WMP from Start/Programs, I get the same result -- a white and gray
box stating, "Windows Media Player has encountered a problem and needs to
close." Looking at the error info, I see that the App Ver is 11.0.5.5721.5145
and the exception code is 0xc06d007e.

If I try to REINSTALL Windows Media Player I get a gray box with a red X
stating, "The application failed to initialize properly." The error code is
0xc0150004.

If I try to UNINSTALL Windows Media Player from Control Panel/Add or Delete
Software, WMP appears on the uninstall list with a Remove button. But when I
press the button, all that happens is the cursor changes to an hourglass for
an instant, the window blinks, and then NOTHING.

As it happens, I use WMP almost daily. The errors began two days ago, but I
had made NO changes to my system -- no software installs and no new drivers.
Device Manager shows no errors.

What the heck can I do? I need WMP but I can't fix it using any technique
I'm aware of.

Can someone help me?

 

I apologize for the duplicate posts. When I clicked Submit, the system told
me an error occurred and my request was not posted. I still need help,
however.