Explorer crashes with some Xvid Codec

[Mr Nobody]

When Explorer is listing files in a directory, it seems to check .AVI files
for some reason. Some of my .AVI files are encoded with DivX, and some with
Xvid. Some (most, but not all) Xvid-encoded files cause Explorer to crash
when you click on the filename. If you double-click the filename, it runs
the designated program for .AVI files and then crashes.

If I rename the .AVI file to .Xvid, then Explorer does not crash. Of course,
you then have to set some program to play Xvid files, as it is an unknown
filetype.

The Windows crash diagnostic software pops up and says Explorer's crash is
due to a fault in the Xvid codec, contact Xvid.org for help.

This is nonsense. The crash is caused by Explorer calling an external
subroutine without first setting an error trap, something that even beginner
programmers are taught how to do. There is no way that such an essential
cornerstone of Windows should be so unreliable.

My 7 computers are all totally stable and reliable except for Explorer,
which crashes more than all other programs on my computers combined.

Why Microsoft spent hundreds of man-hours implementing on-line crash
diagnostic software instead of 30 minutes fixing Explorer, only God and Bill
Gates know.

[end of rant]

 

[Wesley Vogel]

[[it's not a problem caused by Service Pack 2, but an incompatible
Context-menu handler from DivX.]]

See this...
Right click causes an error and crashes Explorer.exe after installing
Windows XP SP2
http://www.winxptutor.com/sp2/divxcrash.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Mr Nobody]

[[it's not a problem caused by Service Pack 2, but an incompatible
Context-menu handler from DivX.]]

actually, it's not. DivX files work OK.

Like I said, Explorer should protect itself and either do nothing or
diagnose an error but there is no way it should cause a crash.