Playing movies freezes my computer

Whenever I try to play a movie (any file type; on any player - windows media, realOne, Quicktime; both saved and streamed), my computer freezes. There is no error message, no warning and even the mouse is frozen. I can do nothing but manually switch my computer off and reboot. This has been going on for months and I have removed all spyware and downloaded the latest version of windows media player, to no avail. This is driving me nuts! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Hi Shiftypenguin
Can you give us some system specs? How much ram are you running?
When you do a ctrl/alt/del, what all is listed in the close programs dialog box?

 

I have 160 mb of ram, 48% free, so that shouldn't be a problem. When I say that my computer freezes, even the keyboard is frozen, so control alt delete does nothing at all. Is there anything else I should list? Thanks for responding!

 

Yep...... do a reboot. After you're back to the desktop..... do a Ctrl/alt/del and list for us what is in that close programs dialogue box.

 

48% of my space is free..

List of programs:
Explorer, Np, Createcd, Rtlwake, Devdtct2, Cm_camera, Loadqm, Nkvwmon, Pezdownload, Directcd, Iowatch, Mm_tray, Vrtxctrl, Tppaldr, Stimon, Agrsmmsg, Imgicon, Refresh.

 

Hi again Shiftypenguin
Sorry it took so long to get back to you...I was out of town.
You might want to try freeing up some resources by going to start...then run...then typing in msconfig. Click ok, then look under the start up tab for things you can safely uncheck.
You can use this site to see what all you can free up.

 

Hi Shiftypenguin

In addition to Daizy's suggestion (freeing up resources) have you checked your video card settings via device manager or software that came with V-card. Also you have some options in the player(s). Possible options to look under... performance, devices, Hardware, Video or similar words.
Other possible problem is you do not have the correct or corrupted "codec" applications. A place to start.. Codecs Installation Packages. This page provides from WMP 6.4 through WMP 9.
I have Windows Media Player 9 Series installed on my w98SE (128MB / 300Htz) and it works acceptable. I also have it installed on my XP (512MB / 1800Htz) and it works great. Here is the download page. Be sure to download the correct version for your OS.

 

How about your video drivers? It might be a good idea to check to see if there's an update available. Did movies ever play for you? If so, (think back now) have you updated the video drivers in the past and could the driver update coincide with when the movies quit? If this is a possibility and there's no update available, maybe going back to an older one would help.

 

I'm pretty sure the problem isn't coming from a problem with windows media player because it affects all of my players. I have version 9 and did download the codecs to see if that helped, but there was no change. I hadn't updated my video drivers or changed anything before the problem started. I have AcitveMovie MCI driver, and for some reason it is listed twice on my devices list in multimedia. I checked for updates, but didn't see any. I also got rid of some startup programs, but that did nothing either. This would make more sense if videos refused to play at all, but sometimes one will play through with no problems. 95% of the time it will freeze though, at different intervals - sometimes right away, other times after playing for a minute or two. Thanks for helping.

 

What all is still checked?

I'm still going to stick to it being a resource problem, until proven otherwise.

Have you run adaware to rid yourself of your spyware?

After you do so.... check to see what your resources are at. Post back.

 

I run adaware regularly and don't have any spyware. In startup, I still have tm, W05OGTTG.exe (listed twice), Jopa (listed twice), Tkbellexe, StillImageMoniter, TPP Auto Loader, agrsmMSG, SonicA3DControl, VortexTray, sysupd, LoadQM, Load Power Profile, SchedulingAgent, Iomega Watch, Iomega Startup Options, Iomega Disk Options, NeoPlanet, refresh.exe, DeviceDetector2, rtlwake, and run= checked. My resources are 73% free, with 160 mb ram. After I unchecked some startup programs and rebooted, the movie I tried to run froze in about a second.

 

I believe you have some sort of dialer or trojan on your computer.You could do one of the online scans found at the Quicklinks page in my signature. It would be a good idea to use HijackThis and post it's log if anything is found on the scan.

 

Here's the log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7
Scan saved at 3:31:39 PM, on 8/6/04
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Unable to get Internet Explorer version!

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\AGRSMMSG.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\REAL\UPDATE_OB\REALSCHED.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\SONIC IMPACT A3D\VRTXCTRL.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\LOADQM.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MUSICMATCH\MUSICMATCH JUKEBOX\MM_TRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WNDCMD32.EXE
C:\TOOLS_95\IOWATCH.EXE
C:\TOOLS_95\IMGICON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\OLYMPUS\DEVICEDETECTOR\DEVDTCT2.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\BELKIN CORPORATION\BELKIN WIRELESS NETWORK MONITOR UTILITY AND DRIVER\RTLWAKE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NEOPLANET\BIN\NP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PSTORES.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NEOPLANET\DOWNLOADS\PROGRAMS\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = about:blank
R3 - Default URLSearchHook is missing
F1 - win.ini: run=HPFSCHED
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.173 lite.aimster.com
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.172 mini.aimster.com
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.174 www.aimster.com
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {A9A674BF-771F-42E5-A440-D20DDA85A862} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\YWFDPX~1.DLL
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StillImageMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TPP Auto Loader] C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [agrsmMSG] agrsmMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SonicA3DControl] C:\Program Files\Sonic Impact A3D\VrtxCtrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VortexTray] C:\WINDOWS\asp4setp.exe 3
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SysUpd] C:\WINDOWS\SYSUPD.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [W05OGTTG.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\W05OGTTG.EXE /dk
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [jopa] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSSTARTUP.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadQM] loadqm.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MMTray] C:\Program Files\MusicMatch\MusicMatch Jukebox\mm_tray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] mstask.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [tm] wndcmd32.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [W05OGTTG.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\W05OGTTG.EXE /dk
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [jopa] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSSTARTUP.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Watch.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IOWATCH.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Startup Options.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGSTART.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Disk Icons.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGICON.exe
O4 - Startup: NeoPlanet.lnk = C:\Program Files\NeoPlanet\bin\Neo.exe
O4 - Startup: refresh.exe.lnk = C:\Tools_95\refresh.exe
O4 - Startup: Device Detector 2.lnk = C:\Program Files\OLYMPUS\DeviceDetector\DevDtct2.exe
O4 - Startup: RtlWake.lnk = C:\Program Files\Belkin Corporation\Belkin Wireless Network Monitor Utility and Driver\RtlWake.exe
O9 - Extra button: Yahoo! Messenger (HKLM)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Yahoo! Messenger (HKLM)
O12 - Plugin for .swf: C:\PROGRAM FILES\NETSCAPE\COMMUNICATOR\PROGRAM\PLUGINS\npswf32.dll
O13 - WWW. Prefix: http://
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab
O16 - DPF: {2B323CD9-50E3-11D3-9466-00A0C9700498} (Yahoo! Audio Conferencing) - http://us.chat1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/chat/applet/v43/yacscom.cab
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Chat - http://us.chat1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/chat/applet/c381/chat.cab
O16 - DPF: {8714912E-380D-11D5-B8AA-00D0B78F3D48} (Yahoo! WebCam Upload Wrapper) - http://chat.yahoo.com/cab/yuplapp.cab
O16 - DPF: {0122955E-1FB0-11D2-A238-006097FAEE8B} (CscClnt Class) - http://central.clevercontent.com/02020128/cccabs/CleverContent.cab
O16 - DPF: ChatSpace Java Client 2.1.0.89L - http://208.141.171.233:8569/Java/cs4msl089.cab
O16 - DPF: {CD17FAAA-17B4-4736-AAEF-436EDC304C8C} (ContentAuditX Control) - http://a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/5805/v0028/www.contentwatch.com/audit/ContentAuditControl.cab
O16 - DPF: {F04A8AE2-A59D-11D2-8792-00C04F8EF29D} (Hotmail Attachments Control) - http://lw12fd.law12.hotmail.msn.com/activex/HMAtchmt.ocx
O16 - DPF: {7D1E9C49-BD6A-11D3-87A8-009027A35D73} (Yahoo! Audio UI1) - http://chat.yahoo.com/cab/yacsui.cab
O16 - DPF: {01CA75F1-054B-4A63-9221-C6926369EC52} (HS_live Control) - http://install.homestead.com/~site/InstallFiles/SIFiles/live/HS_live.cab
O16 - DPF: {F58E1CEF-A068-4C15-BA5E-587CAF3EE8C6} (MSN Chat Control 4.5) - http://fdl.msn.com/public/chat/msnchat45.cab
O16 - DPF: {33564D57-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71} - http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/6/E/F6E491A6-77E1-4E20-9F5F-94901338C922/wmv9VCM.CAB
O16 - DPF: {EF791A6B-FC12-4C68-99EF-FB9E207A39E6} (McFreeScan Class) - http://download.mcafee.com/molbin/iss-loc/vso/en-us/tools/mcfscan/1,5,0,4347/mcfscan.cab
O16 - DPF: {A3009861-330C-4E10-822B-39D16EC8829D} (CRAVOnline Object) - http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/ravonline.cab
O16 - DPF: {74D05D43-3236-11D4-BDCD-00C04F9A3B61} (HouseCall Control) - http://a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/537/2004061001/housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/xscan53.cab
O16 - DPF: {7B297BFD-85E4-4092-B2AF-16A91B2EA103} (WScanCtl Class) - http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/webscan.cab
O16 - DPF: {01FE8D0A-51AD-459B-B62B-85E135128B32} (DD_v4.DDv4) - http://www.drivershq.com/DD_v4.CAB

Thanks for helping!

 

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL, and End Task on SYSUPD.EXE, W05OGTTG.EXE, SYSSTARTUP.EXE, if possible.

Put a checkmark for these items, and have HJT 'fix' them.

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = about:blank
R3 - Default URLSearchHook is missing
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {A9A674BF-771F-42E5-A440-D20DDA85A862} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\YWFDPX~1.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SysUpd] C:\WINDOWS\SYSUPD.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [W05OGTTG.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\W05OGTTG.EXE /dk
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [jopa] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSSTARTUP.EXE
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [tm] wndcmd32.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [W05OGTTG.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\W05OGTTG.EXE /dk
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [jopa] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSSTARTUP.EXE
O16 - DPF: {0122955E-1FB0-11D2-A238-006097FAEE8B} (CscClnt Class) - http://central.clevercontent.com/02...everContent.cab

Reboot and delete these files.
C:\WINDOWS\SYSUPD.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\W05OGTTG.EXE
wndcmd32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSSTARTUP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\YWFDPX~1.DLL
The last one may appear as a longer name, but will have the first 6 letters. This is due to some long filenames converted to 8.3 filename format, if longer than 8 charactors, the remaining letters are replaced with "~1 ".

The next items are optional, but are not needed.

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
After a reboot, rename Realsched.Exe to Realshed.Old, and Real Player will not put it into the startup again. Doing this will not impair Real Player, it doesn't use it for audio or video.

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadQM] loadqm.exe
This one does nothing for you.

If you aren't using your Zipdrive every day, use Msconfig to remove these. They just use up system resources. When resources runs low, things will be sluggish or freeze altogether.
O4 - Startup: Iomega Watch.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IOWATCH.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Startup Options.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGSTART.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Disk Icons.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGICON.exe
O4 - Startup: refresh.exe.lnk = C:\Tools_95\refresh.exe

Hopefully this helps.

 

I did everything you recommended, then attempted to play a music video. It was playing fine, I was happy, then, with 4 seconds left, it froze. Sorry this is such a frustrating problem!

 

Don't give up on it just yet. This sort of thing is often a multi-stage project.

First thing you need to do is update Hijackthis. You are running HijackThis v1.97.7 which is at least two versions out of date. You need to get 1.98.1 and if you check Quicklinks in my signature it will contain a link to the newest version.

Get that, run it, post a new log file.

 

Here's the updated log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.1
Scan saved at 9:38:55 PM, on 8/6/04
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Unable to get Internet Explorer version!

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\AGRSMMSG.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\SONIC IMPACT A3D\VRTXCTRL.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MUSICMATCH\MUSICMATCH JUKEBOX\MM_TRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\TOOLS_95\IOWATCH.EXE
C:\TOOLS_95\IMGICON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\OLYMPUS\DEVICEDETECTOR\DEVDTCT2.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\BELKIN CORPORATION\BELKIN WIRELESS NETWORK MONITOR UTILITY AND DRIVER\RTLWAKE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NEOPLANET\BIN\NP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NEOPLANET\DOWNLOADS\PROGRAMS\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

F1 - win.ini: run=HPFSCHED
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.173 lite.aimster.com
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.172 mini.aimster.com
O1 - Hosts: 65.120.116.174 www.aimster.com
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StillImageMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TPP Auto Loader] C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [agrsmMSG] agrsmMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SonicA3DControl] C:\Program Files\Sonic Impact A3D\VrtxCtrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VortexTray] C:\WINDOWS\asp4setp.exe 3
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MMTray] C:\Program Files\MusicMatch\MusicMatch Jukebox\mm_tray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] mstask.exe
O4 - Startup: Iomega Watch.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IOWATCH.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Startup Options.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGSTART.EXE
O4 - Startup: Iomega Disk Icons.lnk = C:\Tools_95\IMGICON.exe
O4 - Startup: NeoPlanet.lnk = C:\Program Files\NeoPlanet\bin\Neo.exe
O4 - Startup: refresh.exe.lnk = C:\Tools_95\refresh.exe
O4 - Startup: Device Detector 2.lnk = C:\Program Files\OLYMPUS\DeviceDetector\DevDtct2.exe
O4 - Startup: RtlWake.lnk = C:\Program Files\Belkin Corporation\Belkin Wireless Network Monitor Utility and Driver\RtlWake.exe
O9 - Extra button: Yahoo! Messenger - {E5D12C4E-7B4F-11D3-B5C9-0050045C3C96} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\MESSENGER\YPAGER.EXE (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Yahoo! Messenger - {E5D12C4E-7B4F-11D3-B5C9-0050045C3C96} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\MESSENGER\YPAGER.EXE (file missing)
O12 - Plugin for .swf: C:\PROGRAM FILES\NETSCAPE\COMMUNICATOR\PROGRAM\PLUGINS\npswf32.dll
O13 - WWW. Prefix: http://
O16 - DPF: {2B323CD9-50E3-11D3-9466-00A0C9700498} (Yahoo! Audio Conferencing) - http://us.chat1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/chat/applet/v43/yacscom.cab
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Chat - http://us.chat1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/chat/applet/c381/chat.cab
O16 - DPF: {8714912E-380D-11D5-B8AA-00D0B78F3D48} (Yahoo! WebCam Upload Wrapper) - http://chat.yahoo.com/cab/yuplapp.cab
O16 - DPF: ChatSpace Java Client 2.1.0.89L - http://208.141.171.233:8569/Java/cs4msl089.cab
O16 - DPF: {CD17FAAA-17B4-4736-AAEF-436EDC304C8C} (ContentAuditX Control) - http://a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/5805/v0028/www.contentwatch.com/audit/ContentAuditControl.cab
O16 - DPF: {F04A8AE2-A59D-11D2-8792-00C04F8EF29D} (Hotmail Attachments Control) - http://lw12fd.law12.hotmail.msn.com/activex/HMAtchmt.ocx
O16 - DPF: {7D1E9C49-BD6A-11D3-87A8-009027A35D73} (Yahoo! Audio UI1) - http://chat.yahoo.com/cab/yacsui.cab
O16 - DPF: {01CA75F1-054B-4A63-9221-C6926369EC52} (HS_live Control) - http://install.homestead.com/~site/InstallFiles/SIFiles/live/HS_live.cab
O16 - DPF: {F58E1CEF-A068-4C15-BA5E-587CAF3EE8C6} (MSN Chat Control 4.5) - http://fdl.msn.com/public/chat/msnchat45.cab
O16 - DPF: {EF791A6B-FC12-4C68-99EF-FB9E207A39E6} (McFreeScan Class) - http://download.mcafee.com/molbin/iss-loc/vso/en-us/tools/mcfscan/1,5,0,4347/mcfscan.cab
O16 - DPF: {A3009861-330C-4E10-822B-39D16EC8829D} (CRAVOnline Object) - http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/ravonline.cab
O16 - DPF: {74D05D43-3236-11D4-BDCD-00C04F9A3B61} (HouseCall Control) - http://a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/537/2004061001/housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/xscan53.cab
O16 - DPF: {7B297BFD-85E4-4092-B2AF-16A91B2EA103} (WScanCtl Class) - http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/webscan.cab
O16 - DPF: {01FE8D0A-51AD-459B-B62B-85E135128B32} (DD_v4.DDv4) - http://www.drivershq.com/DD_v4.CAB

 

Someone (maybe even me) will look at the new log in detail but for now, please place the following in the address line of your browser and click on Go then copy & paste the results in a reply here.

javascript:navigator.userAgent

 

I'm going to diverge from the path being taken above. It is my guess that your video card is doing some 'overlay' or 'acceleration' on video. The thing all those players have in common is how they talk to the video card to show the stream. There is a special way video is shown that is different that your icons/start button.
Go into the advanced settings of your video card, and turn off anything that says 'overlay' or acceleration related to video. In media player, turn off all the hardware acceleration settings. Try updating, or regressing to WindowsUpdate versions of the video card driver. Try watching some video in safe mode and see if it still reproduces. Its possible your video card itself is the cause of the hangups. Do you have an alternate card you could test with if the above fails?

 

How do I get into the advanced settings of my video card? I can't find any information on it.

This is what came up when doing the javascript:navigator.userAgent:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98)