video files causing repeated problems with windows

[norskotaku]

(man, I haven't posted on here in ages. this is my best guess for where to post about this problem.)

recently, during the past 2 months I'd say, windows explorer has started crashing whenever I try to load, copy, or just single-click on a video file. it doesn't do this with all my files. I'd say about 10% of them. I first noticed the problem while trying to copy a video file from one drive to another, during which windows explorer crashed and continued to crash everytime I even touched the file I had been copying.

my first thought was: reformat the machine and see how it does. it had been a year since I cleaned it off, and I had some free time, so I went through the long process of backing stuff up, etc. I was shooting for a better setup this time, putting all my data on a second harddrive, instead of half of it on the local drive. I just finished the process a few days ago, save for a few things I still need to install. I have installed all my video software, though, which includes premiere 6.5, the latest amvapp, and media player classic. I did not install divx5 or xvid as I used to, since the amvapp included xvid already.

all was well, and the computer was running like a dream, but then the problem started again. once again, certain video files are causing problems.

example: I downloaded a fansub encoded with h.264, since I wasn't paying attention and missed the other link for the xvid copy. that file causes both windows explorer and media player classic to crash, when I attempt to play it, or even just view the details on this machine.

I copied it to my laptop, on which it would not play, but it did not cause any programs to crash. media player classic nicely informed me that I did not have the required codec. but on the desktop, everything that touches that file crashes.

both systems are almost indentical in software, but the laptop only has an older version of the amvapp, from a couple years back I think. other than that, the majority of the software installed on the computers is the same.

any ideas? anyone experienced this problem before? any help is greatly appreciated.

[Eek-1]

You might need to replace the audio & video codecs with different ones/versions.
Other than that you could "Use Windows classic folders" to reduce crashing in explorer.