One possibility, it could be XP trying to create thumbnail views of all image files (jpg/mpg/avi/tiff/gif/png/etc.) in that directory.
If the video files are large or any are corrupted, it could cause Windows Explorer to crash or hang.
You can stop XP from doing this via one of the following:
Use
ShellExView to disable
Video Thumbnail Extractor.
Use regedit: Click on
Start then
Run, type
regedit and press
Enter.
Delete
HKCR\CLSID\{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590} to get rid of thumbnail previews but keep the summary details in the properties tab.
You can also delete
HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandle to disable display of summary details in the properties tab.
As always, before you make any changes to the registry, please back it up. An excellent way to do this is to install
ERUNT. Let it add an entry to your Start menu during the install process. That will allow ERUNT to backup your registry each time you boot. It only takes a few seconds and has no real impact on boot time. Run ERUNT immediately after installing it to create a full registry backup.