All applications hanging when playing video

rohanprabhu

Member
This is a very strange problem.. I have Windows XP and once when I was watching a video in VLC, it just hung and crashed the whole OS along with it. The OS didn't crash per se, but became very unresponsive. After that, I restarted the computer and now whenever I play a video file, it just crashes. Not only VLC, but Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic and VLC.. all three of them crash. All video files, .avi, .mkv, .3gp, .flv.. you name it.. are crashing.

I tried installing and re-installing the codecs, but it didn't work.. I tried reinstalling VLC and Media Player Classic.. even that didn't work.

Browsers still seem to be able to handle videos [both with Flash and Windows Media browser extension playing .wmv video].

I've tried a System Restore since this problem strted all of a sudden.. but it ain't helping...
 
I would suggest installing KLite Codec pack. It is one of the best out there.

I would also suggest getting the updated version of VLC. They just released version 1.0 in the last day or so.

See if between the 2 you can get them working again.
 
Thanks for the VLC info Mak, I was having problems viewing some Barn Owl MP4 clips I took tonight with VLC (It, for some reason was only showing the top left corner), and I just Installed 1.0 which has fixed the problem.
 
I would suggest installing KLite Codec pack. It is one of the best out there.

I would also suggest getting the updated version of VLC. They just released version 1.0 in the last day or so.

See if between the 2 you can get them working again.

I already have K-Lite codec installed and I've also mentioned that I did re-install VLC [and updated myself to 1.0]. However, since all applications are crashing, neither of them is the reason because VLC has the codecs inbuilt.. so why would it crash if codecs were the reason?
 
I already have K-Lite codec installed and I've also mentioned that I did re-install VLC [and updated myself to 1.0]. However, since all applications are crashing, neither of them is the reason because VLC has the codecs inbuilt.. so why would it crash if codecs were the reason?

You didnt mention that you had KLite. You mentioned that you had reinstalled but you never said which version which is why i made sure to point out that version 1.0 was out now.

While VLC may have some codecs built in, it does not have all. There are way more beyond what VLC has as i still have to install KLite to play some of my media files.

You only said that VLC and the video players are crashing now you say all are? If all are crashing then it is a system wide problem and not just related to video so we will need clarification on if it is just when trying to access Media Files or if it is all applications.

Addendum:

Does this sound like your problem ?

I would highly doubt it. As long as they have had the system patched as of Oct last year, Conficker wouldnt have gotten onto the system.

That along with this and this can make sure your system is safe from such exploits.

If people are still scared about the possibility of Conficker there is a topic located here that has all sorts of scans available.
 
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It's not actually Conficker, but a recent Conficker-like exploit affecting the Video Controller ActiveX Library.
I only mentioned it because I saw this today and the Video reference made me think of this thread.
Bit of a long shot, but whenever a system inexplicably misbehaves, a malware scan might be worth while.
 
Well the Security Advisory and the patch for it for the ActiveX controller will keep you protected from that Conficker 2. As it basically disables that ActiveX controller that it tries to exploit. :wink:
 
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