Windows Media Player: Stop Adding Album Art

Windows Media Player has the nasty habit of adding album art to MP3 (and other media) files and directories it finds on the disc. These show up as additional files inside the media directories. These filenames are of the form:

Album_Art_{1A2B3C4D-ABCD-5678-9ABC-0A1B2C3D4E5F}_Large.jpg
Album_Art_{1A2B3C4D-ABCD-5678-9ABC-0A1B2C3D4E5F}_Small.jpg
AlbumArtSmall.jpg
Folder.jpg

A lot of people like this feature, since it automatically downloads album art and creates overlays on media folder icons to look like CD covers. However, I hate Windows or anyone messing with my media files and directories. But thankfully, this irritant can be handled.

Disable in Setup Wizard

This automatic update option can be disabled the first time a user invokes Windows Media Player. At first invocation, WMP throws up a setup wizard to configure the options for the software.

Disable the option Update music files by retrieving media information from the Internet.

Disable in Options

To disable these updates from inside Windows Media Player, choose Organize → Options. Disable the option Retrieve additional information from the Internet.

Delete the Files

Use a search tool like Search Everything to search, find and delete the offending album art files.

You are now free of the album art vermin! 😊