opening folders with avi files gives an error

[goomer]

i have searched the net and this website but found no solution. lately when i open a folder containing an avi file i get an error and the desktop resets and all the applications shut down. i tried changing my view to list and details and others through folder options but didnt help. i get dr watson error message after the explorer error so i removed dr waton from the regisry via microsoft instructions.(made a backup). thought maybe it was my recent upgrade to wmp11 conflicting with something so i uninstalled that and any other wmp programs.its not opening the actual avi that does it it is the opening of the folder. running win XP sp2. short of reformatting i am at a loss. it happens with different avi folders not just one.

[kschang]

The problem is Explorer "preview" mode. Turn the preview mode off would give you temporary relief. Or you can try to unreg and re-reg the shell media extensions:

http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/3588p3.html

[Soopafresh]

From the Start-->Run icon in Windows, enter

regsvr32 /u "c:\windows\system32\shmedia.dll"

[redwudz]

I usually get that from a corrupted file. Explorer tries to read it and gets stuck. In Task Manager, the CPU will show 100%. I often take the easy way out and boot into Safe Mode and just delete it.