mp.3 not recognised.

[timeout1]

Hi Everyone,
can someone please help me with the following,
when i connect my mp3 player to my laptop, via a usb port,
to download tracks from my realplayer, it does not give me the option to download to mp3, but does give the option to
download to cd. i have in the past downloaded tracks to this same mp3 player, but not for about 3 months, So i don't know whats changed.
Also when i connect to windows media player, as soon as i
go to library, then in the dropdown menu select videos, The
screen fades, and i get a message saying"WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER HAS STOPPED WORKING, WINDOWS
WILL CLOSE THE PROGRAM AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM. This happens every time
and always just after i click videos.
I have tried to uninstall Windows media player so that i
could try to reinstall it again. but i can not find the option to
uninstall it anywhere. WHAT A MESS ?
If anyone can help me i will be eternally grateful, as i have not got a clue what to do.
Cheers Dave