Media player problems

I recently reformatted and reinstalled windows. I've been having some unexpected problems with windows media player. The video it produces is very very dark. So dark that it is impossible to actually see the video clearly. This happens when I play a dvd or any other file type. It also happens when I watch streaming video online. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and it still happens. I don't mind that it doesn't work for some files, but not being able to see a large number of streaming videos annoys me.

Which OS version (including any SP installed), WMP version, video card / video card drivers, etc.?... list your system specs so we have an idea of what you're working with.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and it still happens

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You've tried "uninstalling and reinstalling" what exactly... WMP or the OS?

Sorry for being vague in my first post.

I'm running windows XP sp2. I've tried using wmp 7, 9, 10, and 11. All give me the same problem. By uninstalling and reinstalling I mean that I've uninstalled wmp and I've reinstalled it. My copy of windows is clean as well (I reformatted only a few days ago).

I have a nvidia 6800nu. It is not overclocked or unlocked right now. It has been overclocked extensively in the past but it never showed any problems. I have the latest official drivers installed, 93.71.

the rest of my system:
p4 @3.0
intel 865pe pro mobo
400W antec power supply
1gb generic ram
1x WD 120gb hdd
1x WD 400gb hdd

I don't have any problem playing videos with other software. I can watch movies using nero or divx player without a problem. It'd be nice if I could use those to watch streaming videos

Open WMP | Tools | Options | 'Performance' tab-->Advanced | Under Video Acceleration, change it to use High Quality mode instead of Overlays (un-check the Use Overlays box).

That fixed it, thanks for the help