Tech Help please? WMP problem

[Saknussem]

Hi all,
My wife has some new version of WMP on her notebook, and whenever she goes off NOW PLAYING, the screen goes dark. What the HECK is going on there? Can she adjust this? What is this called? What sheepbrain had the idiocy to make it so you can't see your own monitor? Also, how can I simply get to the controls for WMP now? I LOVED WMP 9.0. It was, simply, the best they made. But it wasn't broken, so they went ahead and fixed it. Idiots. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Sak