Quick fix: if you recently reinstalled like I just did, you might encounter this error when trying to play SWF or FLV files with Media Player Classic:

“Can’t create shockwave control”

The answer to fix this is fairly simple – thanks to nameless over on the neowin forums:

If you have this problem, you need to install the Flash plugin for Internet Explorer. You need to do that because Media Player Classic uses the Internet Explorer Flash plugin to render SWF files.

Simple enough! I find the quickest way to get it is open youtube.com (or any other site guaranteed to have Flash content) in an IE window and click on the link to install Flash.

Hey, let me know if this helped you out by posting a quick note in the Comments!

Update from Ren in the comments for folks using Win7 x64 MPC:

Under Windows 7, using the x64 version of Media Player Classic, you’ll have trouble playing flash stuff in MPC. This is due to the fact that a 64-bit program can not load a 32-bit active X control.

The only work-around as far as I can see is to use the 32-bit version for your flash until Adobe updates to 64-bit.

You can download the activeX controls at labs.adobe.com