This doesn't happen all the time, but it happens frequently enough to drive me nuts with frustration. I've been trying to troubleshoot this issue on my own for weeks, doing lots of research, talking with friends, etc., but to no avail. Problem is not with specific player or file or anything -- it happens randomly, especially after I've played a few videos in a row. The program freezes and then takes like 5 mins or more to end task. (I must have sent 3 or 4 dozen error reports to MS in the past couple days!)
Players I use most are Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, Real Player and QuickTime. QuickTime is by far the worst! I've also tried VLC, as many seem to recommend, but I just haven't had good luck with that player for some reason. Many videos come across distorted or don't play on it at all. (I also have DivX Player downloaded, but don't really use it as I think the codecs conflict with other players or something. Should I delete it entirely, or does it serve some usefulness?) I've tried reinstalling all of the above, various troubleshooting tasks, etc., but like I said, problem still remains.
I'm using Windows XP w/plenty of free space on the hard drive. Although to me (admittedly far from an expert on such things), this really sounds like it's just a matter of my computer getting overwhelmed at times. (Sure, it's a few years old -- Pentium 4 w/ 3.4GHZ processor and 200GB hard drive -- but it works great most of the time, and I don't have any similar problems with other programs, functions or even gaming.)
I run Norton Virus check and Spybot checks regularly (automated), and even just performed both in Safe Mode the other day just to be sure -- clear on both. I've also cleaned up Start Menu and Tasks and performed any other maintenance task I could think of.
Also, I've noticed that my CPU Usage goes pretty high at times, and sometimes stays at 100%. But this happens even when I'm not doing anything terribly complex or running many programs at once.
So, anyone have any other ideas or suggestions? Sorry for the long treatise, but feeling kinda desperate here. Many thanks in advance for the help!
Ok, I downloaded the program and ran the scan, but I have NO idea how to interpret the results. The website says "send results to me for interpretation," but not sure I should send them to a total stranger. Any more info you can provide? Thanks.
