Virtual Dub Crashing

[Zeek]

I have a pretty unusual one here...

Suddenly, for reasons way beyond me, Vdub has decided to crash on me whenever I try to start it. The crash is immediate and what is happening is, whenever I run the .exe file, I get a blank screen for a moment (as with the type you might get when Windows explorer fails), my rig becomes momentarily unresponsive, and then everything goes back to normal - except for the fact that Vdub is not running.

This has been going on only for about a day or so and *always* occurs if/when I get to the actual running of the program, although it is not always necessary for me to even get that far because, at times, simply opening the Vdub *folder* will result in exactly the same thing happening. In fact, even attempting to open a compressed copy of Vdub (.rar file) gives me the same result. Strange, eh?

I have (of course) grabbed a new copy of Vdub and, unfortunately, the results are exactly the same. The problem also occurs with Vdub MPEG-2 and I am frankly at wit's end with this. I am virus and Ad-ware free, have a fairly new copy of Windows Server 2k3 installed with more than enough hardware to pull it's weight, and I have used this program (I rely heavily on Vdub) before many times on this same setup. I have also un-installed and re-installed all of the codecs I can find and it's still no go.

I guess the one possible caveat here might be the fact that mine is a dual-CPU machine, but this has never been an issue previously and I've more than done my homework with reading up on the possibility of this being the culprit. Nothing. Also, I first noticed this problem today after trying to work with DVD Decrypter, which was giving me some trouble. That program would not close without me using taskman to get rid of it and so I re-installed it, along with Auto-GK which is what I was dabbling with at the time. That may or may not be the culprit but, shortly after my headaches with DVD Decrypter, this other bs started.

Any ideas here? I'm sick of it all...

Zeek

[sacajaweeda]

I'd try searching the forums over here for an answer to your problem. If you have any crash or error logs that may be of help. Good luck.

[Zeek]

Thank you.

Actually, I have checked out that very useful forum already. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much there or elsewhere that addresses my specific issue.

As for error logging, I would love to provide more info with that - but I am unsure of whether/not V-dub has an error log that can be accessed without using the program itself (don't see any text files).

In any case, this smells almost like a Windows issue to me. 2k3 is supposed to be rock solid, but it *is* still Micro$oft. I'll keep tinkering and re-post if I solve this thing. Otherwise, looks like my standard 4-6 month re-installation of Windows will be taking place a little sooner than planned this time around.


Zeek

[Soopafresh]

Download FILEMON from Http://www.sysinternals.com It's a very useful util to show you what files are being called as your app in question loads.

Close as many apps as you can and apps in your system tray.

Start FILEMON You'll see rows and rows of information start scrolling across the screen. Search in the toolbar menu for the choice entitled "Stop Capturing" You'll want to tick that right after VirtualDub hangs.

Keep Filemon running. Load VirtualDub. Let it hang. Stop capturing in Filemon.

The last few hundred lines of the log will show VirtualDub loading and accessing support files, dlls, codecs, etc. My guess is the culprit will be the file RIGHT before DrWatson auto loads.

You'll see it.