Windows issues

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, click User Accounts.
3. In the User Accounts window, click User Accounts.
4. In the User Accounts tasks window, click Turn User Account Control on or off.
5. If UAC is currently configured in Admin Approval Mode, the User Account Control message appears. Click Continue.
6. Clear the Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer check box, and then click OK.
7. Click Restart Now to apply the change right away, or click Restart Later and close the User Accounts tasks window.

When the thumnail view is enabled in Windows Explorer, then it will generate thumbnails for your video files. It can happen that Explorer encounters a file that it doesn't like and this may result in a crash of Explorer.

The solution would be to remove the file that causes the crash. But it may be difficult to indentify the 'bad' file.

Another solution is to disable the thumbnail view in Explorer.

The most drastic solution is to disable the shell extension that is responsible for genersating the thumbnails. See above on how to (completely) disable thumbnail generation.

This happens because Explorer is generating thumbnails for your videos and it uses a decoder that has a tray icon (like for example ffdshow).

Open Windows Explorer (hold the Windows Key and press 'E')

In the top menu go to: Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types

Now select the file type that you want to change and click on 'change'. Select the program that you want to use to open the selected file type and press OK.

If the file type is not yet in the list, then click on 'New' to add it to the list yourself.

Normally the DirectX installer will refuse to install if it detects that you already have the latest version of DirectX installed. This makes it a pain in the ass to fix a broken DirectX installation. Luckily, there is a small workaround to trick the DirectX installer into a full re-installation.

Run the Registry Editor: Start -> Run -> regedit

Navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectX

Change the value of version from '4.09.00.0904' to '4.08.00.0904'.

Now run the DirectX installer.

Run the Codec Tweak Tool. It has a fix for broken audio (Midi, WaveOut). It will restore some missing registry keys.

Start -> Programs -> K-Lite Codec Pack -> Tools -> Codec Tweak Tool

If the fix is greyed out, or if the fix does not have any effect, then your problem is probably more severe than a few missing registry keys. Re-installing the audio drivers might solve your problem.

If your sound problem only occurs with Flash videos, then scroll down for a topic with solutions specifically for Flash.

This error may pop up when you browse a folder that contains many video files in it.

To see what exactly caused the error go to:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Problem Reports and Solutions -> View Problem History -> Then double-click on the COM surrogate error. Then have a look at the 'Fault Module Name' item.

Workarounds:

• Open DivX Decoder configuration. Uncheck "Use advanced hardware overlay".
• If you got an old version of DivX installed, then uninstall that. If you get the problem with the DivX version that is included in the pack, then disable it with the Codec Tweak Tool. Use ffdshow instead to decode DivX video.
• Disable the "Nero MPEG-1/2/4 & AVC video decoder" filter (NeVideo.ax). You can do that with the Codec Tweak Tool.

Solution:

• Disable thumbnail generation in Windows Vista. Open Windows Explorer and click on Organize -> Folder and Search Options -> View -> Enable Always show icons, never thumbnails.

Details about what caused the crash can usually be found in the Event log of Windows. You can access the Event Viewer through:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Adminstrative Tools -> Event Viewer

Some people experience this problem when the Gabest MPEG splitter (MpegSplitter.ax) is installed. You can disable this filter with the Codec Tweak Tool.

If the problems continue, then look in the Event Viewer logs to see what causes it.

A corrupt file or a buggy codec may cause a player to crash, but not the whole system. A "Blue Screen Of Death" or a spontaneous reboot is usually an indication of hardware or driver failure.

Re-install your graphics and sound drivers. Preferably a different version, either newer or older.

Some details about what caused the crash can usually be found in the Event log of Windows. You can access the Event Viewer through:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Adminstrative Tools -> Event Viewer

That error means "access denied".

This error can be avoided by starting a command prompt window with administrator privileges and running regsvr32.exe from there.

In your startmenu, go to "Accessories", and find a shortcut called "Command Prompt". Right-click on that shortcut and select "Run as". A window will be shown where you can select a user account. You should select an Administrator account.

Click here for a description of the System Restore function of Windows.

Please note that System Restore does NOT magically restore your ENTIRE system to a previous state. It ONLY reverts some important parts of your system.

Therefore it is highly recommended to FIRST uninstall the problematic software, BEFORE you use System Restore to go back to a point prior to the installation of that software (if the problem still remains). It is our advice to only use system restore as a last resort.