Issue/Question
I attempted to open an audio/video file or other media in Microsoft Windows and got a message stating that I am using Windows N or KN edition. What does this mean?
Environment
Cause
Microsoft distributes special N editions of Windows in Europe and KN editions of Windows in Korea. These are the same as the standard editions of Windows, except they don’t include Windows Media Player and other multimedia playback features. Due to the lack of these features, users of these editions of Windows may have trouble with media files until this is corrected.
Resolution
N and KN editions of Windows aren’t prevented from using these media playback features. Instead, they’re just not installed by default.
If you want to enable these disabled multimedia features on a N or KN edition of Windows, download the free Media Feature Pack from Microsoft. There are different download links depending on whether you need it for Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7. This will re-enable all those disabled features.