Windows crashes if I play an AVI file.

[Captain315]

For some reason, windows closes any program I try to use to play or transport an AVI file. The message says nothing as to the cause, only that it is closing the program to protect the operating system. I have used a number of programs to convert the VOB's to AVI in an attempt at finding the best program. I finally settled on FairUse 2.6 which I think is the better of those I've tried. I've also tried all the standard player programs. Would anyone have any idea why I would be having this problem and how I might fix it. I'm at a loss as I've tried everything I know to.

[Baldrick]

Tried play with VLC Media PLayer?
If it works fine then it's probably a windows codec/decoder problem because VLC has it own builtin codecs. So then uninstall all codec packs, ffdshow and all video tools that you have tested recently and reinstall just the codecs you need.

[Captain315]

I was reading a post about VLC and downloaded it. The movies play fine in VLC but not anything else. I can't even delete them from my hard drive as Windows closes before I can get it done. Are you saying to uninstall ffdshow? What codecs will I need to use FairUse? Anything else that should be uninstalled? I'm just getting into this AVI thing and am having a huge problem understanding.

[Midzuki]

First try rebooting in "safe mode" and see if it makes a difference.
Second check whether your computer has been infected by some virus/worm/rootkit.

[Captain315]

Tried all of that. It seems to be a codec problem like Mr. B said. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[poisondeathray]

A shot in the dark, but sometimes the image preview for media in explorer can cause crashes in XP in some configurations

Start=>run

To remove media preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll

To readd media preview, type and hit enter
regsvr32 shmedia.dll

The other possibility is certain versions of XviD are known to cause crashes, even when mousing over the AVI file. The fix for this is to update the version.

[Captain315]

Thanks... Will give it a try. What version of Xvid should I use. I was under the impression that FairUse came with its own version but I could easily be wrong.

[poisondeathray]

I don't use FairUse, so I don't know.

You could uninstall XviD with add/remove programs, and update to the lastest version

Cleaning up your codecs as Baldrick suggested is also a good idea

[Captain315]

I re-installed the Xvid codec and all is working as it should. Thanks to all for the advice, I was at a total loss as to what was causing the problem.