Windows 7 media players crashing

[fohat.digs]

Recently, and it has gotten much worse in recent days, all my media players have been crashing in Windows 7.

VLC, which I have used regularly for a couple of years, now refuses to open with a "Microsoft Runtime Visual C++" error, and Windows Media Player will play, but its window is unresponsive, that is, it will not expand or minimize, Volume, Pause, Stop, etc, do not work, nor will it close - I have to go into Task Manager to kill it.

I keep all my software and drivers up to date and I even tried uninstalling VLC and installing it fresh, as well as disabling Windows Media Player.

The paranoid side of me wonders whether is a not-so-passive/aggressive booby trap by Microsoft to induce me to go to 10, which I continue to resist because I have several pieces of older software and hardware that I like and I fear that they will suddenly be rendered inoperative.

Any ideas? Leslieann usually knows about this stuff.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Reinstall Visual C++ ?

[fohat.digs]

Reinstall Visual C++ ?

I have never tried that. I see 7 instances of Visual C++ under programs in the Control Panel. Is it possible or recommended to uninstall them first?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Reinstall Visual C++ ?

I have never tried that. I see 7 instances of Visual C++ under programs in the Control Panel. Is it possible or recommended to uninstall them first?

Would start with reinstalling the newest version, and then see if VLC will run.

[dgneo]

Recently, and it has gotten much worse in recent days, all my media players have been crashing in Windows 7.

VLC, which I have used regularly for a couple of years, now refuses to open with a "Microsoft Runtime Visual C++" error, and Windows Media Player will play, but its window is unresponsive, that is, it will not expand or minimize, Volume, Pause, Stop, etc, do not work, nor will it close - I have to go into Task Manager to kill it.

I keep all my software and drivers up to date and I even tried uninstalling VLC and installing it fresh, as well as disabling Windows Media Player.

The paranoid side of me wonders whether is a not-so-passive/aggressive booby trap by Microsoft to induce me to go to 10, which I continue to resist because I have several pieces of older software and hardware that I like and I fear that they will suddenly be rendered inoperative.

Any ideas? Leslieann usually knows about this stuff.

Check event viewer for disk errors, just to be safe.

[fohat.digs]

Would start with reinstalling the newest version, and then see if VLC will run.

Does it say something that I tried this in 2 different places on the Microsoft web site and got "sorry not available" both times?

[FreeCopy]

I would give media player classic home cinema a shot. It's been my primary player for many years. If anything it might give you an error that can help pinpoint the real issue.

[rowdy]

Media Player Classic?

https://mpc-hc.org/

[Glenmael]

I would recommend launching Windows Event Viewer and checking for any 'Side-by-Side' errors (this usually indicates you are 'missing' an assembly reference), it will show you a number, e.g. v9.4.1.0, give that a google with a prefix of 'Microsoft Visual C++' and download the required/missing C++ redistributables.

You should also get this as a just-in-case:
 https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/
to check for any spy/malware.

[arcvile]

I would recommend launching Windows Event Viewer and checking for any 'Side-by-Side' errors (this usually indicates you are 'missing' an assembly reference), it will show you a number, e.g. v9.4.1.0, give that a google with a prefix of 'Microsoft Visual C++' and download the required/missing C++ redistributables.

You should also get this as a just-in-case:
 https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/
to check for any spy/malware.

This a million times.

[vivalarevolución]

Probably MIcrosoft using a subliminal tactic to get you to update to Windows 10.

[Leslieann]

I would try reinstalling VLC first, it should reinstall the required programs.

If that fails, I would check the Event Viewer, look for anything odd, I doubt you will find much relating to the problem, but you might.

Before moving on, I would grab something that can read the SMART data from your drive. I like using Defraggler (health tab), and look at the number of sectors waiting to be written, number corrected and number of uncorrectable counts. Look at the raw data, not the numbers. If there is anything in the raw data start worrying.  I say raw data because every drive company interprets the data differently, so it's not accurate, however raw data is raw data, anything there, is not good and indicative of a drive issue. If that looks good, great, if not, start backing up data now before you do anything else. A problem doesn't mean imminent death, but you need to backup before you start messing with anything else and creating more problems.

Once that is done, and your drive is okay, start with Super Anti-Spyware and Malwarebytes, I also like to use Combofix and Tdsskiller. Reboot and try the program again. If you run an anti-virus, don't bother scanning, but if you don't run one, get one and run it. Doesn't matter which one, they aren't very effective at catching much, but they are cheap insurance.

Last thing I would do is grab a program that keep Win10 at bay and remove the Win10 Telemetry imported into Win 7 and 8. Lately I've been using this as it is easier than doing it all by hand. MS is being extremely aggressive regarding Win10 updating.
https://github.com/Nummer/Destroy-Windows-10-Spying/releases

Beware, there is multiple versions of update KB3035583, there are at least  2 versions, but one was sent as an optional update, then re-issued, then issued as a recommended update, if you uninstall one, it reverts to an older version.  This is the one that puts the Win10 Icon in your tray and gives you popups telling you to update. You may need to remove it or run that program more than once to completely remove KB3035583.

[fohat.digs]

I would try reinstalling VLC first, it should reinstall the required programs.

Once that is done, and your drive is okay, start with Super Anti-Spyware and Malwarebytes,

Last thing I would do is grab a program that keep Win10 at bay and remove the Win10 Telemetry imported into Win 7 and 8.

MS is being extremely aggressive regarding Win10 updating.

Thanks for the info. I did re-install VLC, and other things, but it didn't help. And I run Malwarebytes first thing when something gets squirrely.

What did seem to help was accepting the most recent update of Silverlight, and I wonder whether some piece of that wanted me to be using Windows Media player instead.

Clearly I need to purge the 10 nags or just accept it. I have reconciled myself to being watched by Microsoft, I figure that they are doing it already anyway. The positive consensus seems to be getting more positive for 10, and I am a single user on a single computer with a legit 7 OEM disc that I maintain myself. If I was not afraid that I would lose some old dependable hardware I would have few or no qualms.

[trizkut]

I would try reinstalling VLC first, it should reinstall the required programs.

Once that is done, and your drive is okay, start with Super Anti-Spyware and Malwarebytes,

Last thing I would do is grab a program that keep Win10 at bay and remove the Win10 Telemetry imported into Win 7 and 8.

MS is being extremely aggressive regarding Win10 updating.

Thanks for the info. I did re-install VLC, and other things, but it didn't help. And I run Malwarebytes first thing when something gets squirrely.

What did seem to help was accepting the most recent update of Silverlight, and I wonder whether some piece of that wanted me to be using Windows Media player instead.

Clearly I need to purge the 10 nags or just accept it. I have reconciled myself to being watched by Microsoft, I figure that they are doing it already anyway. The positive consensus seems to be getting more positive for 10, and I am a single user on a single computer with a legit 7 OEM disc that I maintain myself. If I was not afraid that I would lose some old dependable hardware I would have few or no qualms.

Over 110 million users have been annoyed enough by this tooltip to upgrade to windows 10!  )

[Leslieann]

Thanks for the info. I did re-install VLC, and other things, but it didn't help. And I run Malwarebytes first thing when something gets squirrely.

What did seem to help was accepting the most recent update of Silverlight, and I wonder whether some piece of that wanted me to be using Windows Media player instead.

Clearly I need to purge the 10 nags or just accept it. I have reconciled myself to being watched by Microsoft, I figure that they are doing it already anyway. The positive consensus seems to be getting more positive for 10, and I am a single user on a single computer with a legit 7 OEM disc that I maintain myself. If I was not afraid that I would lose some old dependable hardware I would have few or no qualms.

That program will kill the nag screens.
Silverlight may clear up WMP, but will not do anything for VLC.

Instead of re-installing, uninstall, then re-install, see if that changes anything.

[rowdy]

Thanks for the info. I did re-install VLC, and other things, but it didn't help. And I run Malwarebytes first thing when something gets squirrely.

What did seem to help was accepting the most recent update of Silverlight, and I wonder whether some piece of that wanted me to be using Windows Media player instead.

Clearly I need to purge the 10 nags or just accept it. I have reconciled myself to being watched by Microsoft, I figure that they are doing it already anyway. The positive consensus seems to be getting more positive for 10, and I am a single user on a single computer with a legit 7 OEM disc that I maintain myself. If I was not afraid that I would lose some old dependable hardware I would have few or no qualms.

That program will kill the nag screens.
Silverlight may clear up WMP, but will not do anything for VLC.

Instead of re-installing, uninstall, then re-install, see if that changes anything.

When uninstalling VLC there is (or used to be) a prompt to remove all settings.  Probably a good idea to do that too.

also check if any directories are left lying around (before you delete, right-click and select Properties on the shortcut to find where it has been installed).  Delete (or at the very least rename) any directories left lying around.