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re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 8:33 pm Posted by geek9pm (903 messages posted) You will see on this forum frequent posts about WMP 11 and some users here will tell you to give up on WMP11. I am just one of them. Try almost anything else. Even Winamp! Geek9pm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 2:22 pm Posted by Richard (7 messages posted) As a follow up to my previous post, I now have this "lock up" problem with both WMP11 and GOM Player. (It is possible I just didn't see the problem with GOM player from the outset.) This leads me to believe that there is something amiss in one of the XP file processors or perhaps an XP setting that is affecting only .mpg playback. I don't dabble in a lot of file types, but .wmv and streaming audio seem to work fine. Any tips on where to look or perhaps diagnostics to run? Thanks in advance for your suggestions. On Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 3:37 pm, Richard wrote: >XP with SP3 here, with all updates. A few weeks ago Media Player 11 began acting >strangely with .mpg files. Upon opening a .mpg, the LAN internet connection is cut >("a network cable is disconnected or missing"). Further, at the completion of playing >the file the computer is locked up requiring a reset. CTL-ALT-DEL has no affect. >Upon reset and reboot the connection is restored and I can access the internet normally. >This does not occur with GOM Player on the same .mpg files, and other file types >don't seem to be affected. My LAN interface to DSL is via a 3Com Etherlink. If Media >Player is corrupted, can I reload a downloaded MP 11 over the existing version? I >know that a complete uninstall of MP 11 is not possible and is complicated. Everything >had been working normally for months until a couple of weeks ago. Virus and spyware >scans don't turn up a thing. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks >in advance. - Dick [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 3:16 pm Posted by Spexx (1951 messages posted) I have seen these symptoms with some mp3 files downloaded via P2P networks and I'm sure there is some malicious intent involved. Are you getting this behaviour with older trusted mp3 files now or is it just newly downloaded ones giving trouble? Cheers. Spexx. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 3:46 pm Posted by Richard (7 messages posted) These are "tried and true" .mpg files that have played fine before, some of them many times. I haven't been able to associate it with a file length or anything like that. I don't frequent questionable websites and I'm pretty routine in my websurfing. I've got AVG 8.0 AV, Ad Aware 2008, and a-squared, and I usually scan every day or two. Nothing has ever showed up except the usual low risk tracking cookies. I'll periodically run C-Cleaner, but not the registry portion. I get the disconnect when I'm playing a saved file. I haven't downloaded a "fresh" .mpg recently, so I don't know if the symptom manifests itself on download or not. Other aspects of the system seem to operating normally, or at least as "normally" as XP seems to operate. I appreciate your assistance. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm Posted by Spexx (1951 messages posted) I have to say that this is very odd behaviour, not characteristic of malware in particular but repeatable and seemingly getting worse with time. I would try first-line troubleshooting first, which would be to ensure that nothing is overheating which can cause all sorts of odd behaviour. Open up the case and make sure that all cooling fans are turning and free of dust/fluff etc and all ventilation slots/holes are clear. I usually use a paintbrush and vacuum cleaner for this job and a can of compressed air to reach inaccessible areas (use eye protection). This might just cure it! If not, try downloading fresh codecs such as those available via this link as it might be caused by a corrupted video codec, but that is a pure guess on my part and it doesn't seem very likely that it would cause network dropouts. WMP11 does include a new system service for network sharing which, if you don't use it, can be disabled to eliminate that as a possible cause or contributing factor to the problem. Try cleaning out the machine first though and see what it is like. Cheers. Spexx. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 6:30 pm Posted by Richard (7 messages posted) Thanks again for your response. I generally keep my box pretty clean, but I'll certainly check that. It has plexi sides for good visibility and high performance fans. I have two temp monitors, and the CPU has been running at 36/37 C and the hard drive at 30/31C, which is typical for the summer where I have the box. (They will run a few degrees cooler in the winter when the room is about 10 F cooler.) Nothing unusual there. I hadn't thought of the Codecs, and that may be worth a try. I've never downloaded a Codec pack, just one needed Codec for a particular DVD that wouldn't play. It would certainly be less puzzling if I wasn't getting the net disconnect and lockup. Your time and suggestions are appreciated! [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 6:43 pm Posted by Spexx (1951 messages posted) Those temps don't sound excessive, although my daughter's PC with temp monitors runs CPU at about 30, same as the HD. Certainly try disabling the WMP network service - Start - Run - services.msc - OK and then right-click on the service called Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service, choose Properties and set the startup type to Disabled, then Apply the change. Click the button to stop the service. That will eliminate that and rid you of a system overhead. If doing all that, plus applying a new codec pack, does not change anything I would get paranoid! Cheers. Spexx. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Media Player 11 Lockup With .mpg Files Friday, August 8, 2008 at 9:00 am Posted by Richard (7 messages posted) By Jove, Spexx. I believe you've done it! Being a simple minded sort I tried the easiest thing first - disabling the WMP Network Sharing Service. That appears to have fixed the problem with both WMP 11 and GOM Player. Evidentally something there is shared by both players and went amiss. I've tried several of the subject .mpg files on both players, files that were hanging up, and they play fine and even repeat play. Incidentally, the service was set on "Manual", and I now have it set on "Disabled" per your suggestion. It is nice to win one for a change. Thank you for your time and expertise. I owe you a lunch! [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum