Strange Winamp/WMP problem

[sirius]

Anybody know why when I click any sort of movie file it crashes my pc......I mean, it 'encounters an error' and the windows explorer shuts down etc?.

Audio files seem okay, just not video footage. Ive tried DVD's, and old CD's I have copies of in the disc drive and they do the same .

Ive so far reinstalled codecs, reinstalled the latest winamp, rebooted a few times, and its still the same.

My PC has been acting strange in general lately, this is just another additionn to the list. Has something corrupted my PC? Is it a virus or worm? I dont get why it can play audio but nothing else without crashing.


Cheers

Sirius.

 

[sirius]

Actually, its any program I try that plays movies, they all crash when opening it. Earlier, the windows crashed at mere selecting the file, but thats no longer the case, its just it wont have any truck with video files.......


The BBC 'Power of Nightmares' series works fine, ironically enough, as does the intresting "Voices of Iraq" avi's.....

Strange.


Sirius.

 

[JAZ]

What codecs do you have installed, is it one of those stupid codec packs ?
There more trouble than their worth, if you have one of them remove it & I'll give you links to the few codecs you actually need.
Oh & what os are you using, perhaps if your having lots of problems with your PC then a format is worth considering.

 

[sirius]

Cheers Jaz.

Ive been doing some research, and it appears Im not alone with this phenomina with avi files on windows XP pro. Some of the workarounds involve editing the registry etc, and some fancy dos based editing of the system, which I looked for in the registry and it wasnt there, and I dont wanna dabble in DOS.

I think Im gonna spend the weekend sorting my partitions out with all the files I have, back up and maybe on monday hit that format c:/ command . Theres numerous problems with the computer, and its got quite bloated with miscellaneous programa and thier crap they leave behind.


Ta

Sirius.

 

[JAZ]

Yeah sometimes its better just to bite the bullet & format, allthough remember to backup things like your favourites folder etc
When you re-install just get the files below & dont bother with codec packs =
FFDShow <will play all avi files without installing divx xvid etc
AC3 filter <will play the audio in the avi's
Media Player Classic <best video player (imo but its really up to personal preference) & if you try to play a file you dont have a codec for it will point you to a page with the codec needed.
VLC media player <again its upto personal preference (I dont use it) but this will play lots of files without the need for any codecs
You can google for the links, most of them are hosted on Sourceforge.net

 

[johns_ar]

i learned the codec pack lesson the hard way like, ace mega or something and my pc was just riddled with shit

alls i use now are the guardian knot codec & rip pack from doom9.org and keep things to a minimum