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Hi folks.
This is a long story and I'm not sure where to start so be patient.
Anyway since leaving home in the UK and coming to work abroad I've been downloading lots of video files. I started off with eMule but because you can wait days for downloads to finish I've recently taken to BitTorrent with greatly increased speed etc.
Most of the files I download I just watch on the PC using the VLC Media Player. I can't think of any problems I've ever had with it.
Sometimes though I like to create a DVD to share with friends who don't like watching stuff on a computer. So I started off doing this with Nero Vision Express, and was pretty pleased with the results.
A few weeks ago I downloaded a file of a well known US TV show (set on an island Wink ) and found it just wouldn't burn to a DVD. I kept getting messages like "the app is being told to shut down in an unusual way". Fortunately I was trying to burn it to a RW DVD, so I didn't waste a disc. I was really puzzled.
I'd promised my girlfriend she could see the show that evening (we're both hooked on it) so to avoid losing face I tried burning it to a CD with Nero Express, rather than trying to make a DVD. It worked, but the result was not great, the sound was out of synch with the actors' lips, but at least it was watchable. This file I got via Bittorrent I'm pretty sure.
Anyway a few days ago I downloaded another episode of the same show. I watched it on the PC as soon as it finished downloading and there was no problem. I copied it to my portable hard drive so I could as usual move it to my other computer with the DVD burner.
This time when I got to the other computer and tried to view the contents of the folder the file was in (using Windows Explorer) I found I could not even do that. Windows kept giving messages like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to shut down." Trying to burn the file to a disc using Nero (or DVDsanta) was a total waste of time.
I even had trouble deleting the file, in the end I had to delete the whole folder the file was in, and was forced to the conclusion that either some devilish new form of copy protection was being encoded into TV shows, or that some hateful asshole has found a way to boobytrap files which he then passes on to others. I decided then and there to go back to getting these shows from eMule as I had never had any problems there in the past.
Now however I am sick as a parrot because yesterday I spent hours and wasted 3 DVDRs trying to burn a completely different project (files I had got via Bittorrent, but from a completely reliable source, not US TV shows at all.) Weirdly I was getting the "app is being told to shut down in an unusual way" message again. I tried uninstalling Nero, then reinstalling, then updating to a newer version, all in vain.
Now I am no expert in computers or video file burning or whatever, just a mere mortal who likes to get a little pleasure from watching TV shows I can't possibly get to see or buy in the country where I am. I have to confess I am stumped by this problem (and actually bored of wasting precious time, DVDs and electricity.)
But please if there is anyone out there who has experienced anything like this before, knows what to do about it, or can even shed some light in any way, can you let me know. My current fear is that the files which seem to have started all this trouble may somehow have infected all the other files on my portable hard drive and maybe even my main hard drive. If I have to reformat either of these drives it will be a godalmighty pain in the ass and of course I will probably lose shedloads of carefully collected stuff (after all I have no idea which files are OK now and which aren't.)
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