Problem solved…new problem
I solved the problem with the crashing. It was DivX…or rather Dr. DivX which was causing the problem. Dr. DivX has known issues with XP SP2 so you either have to disable software DEP (Data Execution Protection) or remove it. So, I’ve removed Dr. DivX for the time being and will wait for them to fix it. I don’t watch a lot of DivX stuff to begin with so it’s not a big issue.
The new problem is even more confounding. Windows Media Player 9 (and now 10) cannot play any MPEG (1 or 2) files. Actually, let me rephrase that. It plays the files but there’s no video. I can hear the sound but can’t see the picture. Strangely, all of my other media player apps (RealPlayer, Nero Media Player, WinDVD) can play the same files. Even the stripped down MPLAYER2.EXE application works fine and it supposedly uses the same codecs and filters as the newer Windows Media Player. This one is very baffling. Sure, I could use the other players…but the fact that there’s a problem bugs me.
Ugh…back to the troubleshooting.
