Windows Media Player

[MovieDudeToo]

I sometimes have to use Windows Media Player on my computer to view films recorded from TV. The picture quality is usually very good but I have very little controllability of the software. The fast forward/backward keys have never worked on any of my computers. Not sure why this should be. After all, they all ran windows operating systems and it is windows software. I have tried other free software but the picture quality is usually poor. I hesitate to 'buy' software in case it also lacks some form of quality/useabillity. Does anyone know how to enable full functionality to Windows Media Player or do you know of any decent quality software with good forward/backward playback control?
I have quite good control over DVD playback and tried burning films to disc, but again there was a distinct loss of quality which rendered the recordings worthless.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks