No movies, WMP is unusable

[patio]

You said you tried other media players but didn't specify...was VLC one of them ? ?

[Dilbert]

Yes, as was Quicktime and Creative MediaSource.

Calum, I'm willing to try your advice. Can you tell me where I can find the drivers to remove them? (The 6600 drivers may still be there...)

[Dilbert]

Found them, uninstalled, reinstalled, and no change.

EDIT: Winamp plays .wmv files, but loading Winamp itself is slow, and I'm only getting a black screen for video. Audio's fine.

[patio]

Have you considered the video files themselves may be corrupt ? ?
Copy one to aflash drive and try it on another machine...

[Dilbert]

They work on other machines.

[Calum]

Calum, I'm willing to try your advice. Can you tell me where I can find the drivers to remove them? (The 6600 drivers may still be there...)

All I did to remove mine was to use the uninstall utility supplied in Add/Remove programs, then reboot.
I then used CCleaner to clean, using the Issues function too.
Then I found all the folders with ATI (use nVidia for yourself obviously) and deleted them.
Then I found all the dll files and drivers, using Windows Search, to find any left over files.
I realise this was risky, but otherwise I was stuck in 640x480 resolution . . . not good.
Make a backup of the files first, if not your whole system.
When I'd cleared them all out, I rebooted again and did the same thing in case I missed any.
Then I rebooted and installed the new drivers, then rebooted again.
Be aware of 2 things - I take no responsibility for any damage, this was just what I did and may not work for others - and that this will clear al settings related to any nVidia cards.

[patio]

This is why i swear by Total Uninstall...one click does all this.

[Dilbert]

Thanks, Calum. Unfortunately, it's no good; still freezing. I think I better described my issue in the nVidia boards:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=36510

[Fed Up]

Dilbert...

This started right after the new hardware installation, but for kicks and giggles, take a look at the other media players, installed on your system, that play video files.

In the options or preferences of these other players...are they configured so that they are the default players for .wmv files?  If so, configure the other players so that they are not and let Windows Media Player be the default player for these files...

Actually, if you haven't already...configure Windows Media Player as your default and then check file associations after removing the .wmv file association from the other players.

It's worth a shot...

[Dilbert]

Hunh. Worth a shot. Everyone at nVidia seems to be stumped.

Let's see: VLC: No file association, but playing an mpg took me 3 minutes to kill after the screen began flickering.

Media Player Classic: Yeah, it's associated. Removed. mpg files are associated with WMP now. I tried one, and there was only audio; video was all black. Then I clicked on something, and the system locked up maxed on CPU cycles.

Improvement, but I'm afraid I'm not done yet.

[Fed Up]

Not sure if you've tried this...

Have you tried uninstalling Windows Media Player through Add/Remove Programs - Windows Components?

Then reinstall the player?

Have your Windows CD handy...just in case you need it when reinstalling.

Once you do this, you may have to revist Windows update for express updates crtical to your OS.

[Dilbert]

I FIXED IT!

I can't believe I didn't think of this. Back when I had the 6600, two games were unplayable. Installing older drivers fixed it.

I just installed the 81.94 drivers, and my movies are playing flawlessly.

EDIT: One particular video caused a crash. Oddly, Firefox saved my typing overnight in this post. I'm going to try again to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

EDIT II: Yep, that particular wmv won't play. It starts to, then the WMP window fills with green and pink colors, and I can't even ctrl-alt-del. Reset required. Odd, that file was fine before the upgrade. Oh well, I'll try a couple things, but maybe I'll have to accept a "ruined" video.

I'd email it to someone for further testing, but it's 232 MB.

[Dilbert]

Update time: Long videos (100+ MB) aren't playing properly. In .wmv format they just crash my system; converting to avi makes it play, but very slowly.

[Calum]

Some video players have issues with large file sizes.
Does that happen with all the video players you have?