WMP Freezes Entire System

green7335

After reading all 14 pages of WMP general issues, I was not able to find my
problem or a solution.

I was helping a friend who's system would lock up whenever he tried to play
a video (.wmv format) using WMP. Had the same problem trying to run with
Realtime. He had a "bootleg" copy of XP Professional -- because of the legal
status, he had no Microsoft updates over the last couple of years.

I was able to install a new, legal copy of XP Professional (unfortunately,
losing all his programs but saved his data files), including WMP 11. All
updates have been performed (including XP SP3), and the Microsoft site shows
all programs (Windows, WMP, Office, IE7) as completely up to date.

I tested WMP with an audio file and it works fine. However, when I just
tried to play a .wmv file, the system locked up again!! The only means of
recovery is a hard boot with the power button -- a real pain!

After trying to help a friend, I fear I have made his life worse!! He lost
programs and still has the same problem!!

The computer is an HP Pavilion running XP Pro.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!!

Craig