[AeroGold1]

I am having an issue with playing media files, in particular, avi's (DivX and Xvid).

I used to have major spyware/malware problems, which, with the help of the Geeks to Go Malware forum, I was able to remove, and am now clean. However, since the malware problems started, and even now that I've removed them, I still have problems with any movie file that is an avi. WMV's, mp3's, and (most) mpg's play properly, though some mpg's cause crashing. I am referring to files that played fine before the malware problems, and now do not work.

Specifically, if I try to play such movies, regardless of the player - I've tried Windows Media Player 10, Media Player Classic, Bsplayer, WinAmp - I will get an error message saying the file cannot play, and then my desktop will crash. I know I have the proper codecs to view the files however, since I've checked the files' codec requirements using the Gspot codec checker.

It's not just an inability to play the files though. Everytime I am browsing folders in My Computer/Windows Explorer, if the particular folder I am looking at has an .avi file, after a few minutes, I will immediately get Windows' "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." dialogue message with the "Send"/"Don't Send" error report options, followed by my desktop crashing for a few minutes before recovering. If the folder contains other types of media, not including .avi's, there is never a crash.

I've tried uninstalling and re-installing my codecs, using different players, and creating a new XP user account, but none of these have stopped the crashing/failure to play problem. I could use any help, so thanks in advance.

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Hi AeroGold1!

Windows XP Explorer has a 'feature' to provide a preview in the Details box on the left of the file you have selected, if it’s supported. Image files, HTML pages, video clips, MP3s, etc are all previewed (even with the folder view open).

If you have a large movie clip and it either is corrupt (ie. no index from a partial download) or it uses an unsupported codec, then Explorer tries to load the whole file. This can slow your computer a lot and prevent deleting/renaming/moving/etc the file until it’s finished.

Simply do the following:

• Go to START-->RUN and type regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll and hit ENTER.
• A window will pop up saying that the file has been unregistered successfully. (If you don't receive this window, or the window gives an error, then please post that in your reply.)
• Reboot your computer and see if the problem persists.

Fenor

[Fenor]

Hi AeroGold1!

Windows XP Explorer has a 'feature' to provide a preview in the Details box on the left of the file you have selected, if it’s supported. Image files, HTML pages, video clips, MP3s, etc are all previewed (even with the folder view open).

If you have a large movie clip and it either is corrupt (ie. no index from a partial download) or it uses an unsupported codec, then Explorer tries to load the whole file. This can slow your computer a lot and prevent deleting/renaming/moving/etc the file until it’s finished.

Simply do the following:

• Go to START-->RUN and type regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll and hit ENTER.
• A window will pop up saying that the file has been unregistered successfully. (If you don't receive this window, or the window gives an error, then please post that in your reply.)
• Reboot your computer and see if the problem persists.

Fenor

[AeroGold1]

Thanks for your help Fenor.

I did the "regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll" and got the message saying the file unregistered successfully. After re-setting, I tried browsing folders containing movie files, and did not experience errant "Windows has encountered a problem" messages. However, I do still get those messages when I try to play any .avi's, even though, like I mentioned in original post, I do have the necessary codecs installed. Also, I don't think the files are corrupt, as I used to be able to play them all just fine. Is there a way for me to fix the problem of not being able to play the files?

Thanks again for your help.

[Fenor]

I would try using a player like VLC Media Player to play the movie files.

Fenor

Edited by Fenor, 29 September 2006 - 06:44 PM.

[AeroGold1]

Thanks a lot for your help Fenor!

VLC player seems to play all the files now, so that is great for me. Is there any way to get the other players (winamp, WMP, bsplayer, etc) to work again though?

[Fenor]

There really is no need to use those since VLC Media Player plays everything from .iso files to .vob files to .avi to .mpg. I only use VLC and have never had a problem with it. I love it!

Fenor