Friends: My media files work fine. After installing Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 I can't open some media files and keep getting the pop up :"Windows encountered a problem and needs to close...". I uninstalled Roxio completely and re-installed and the problem returned. Any ideas what's happening here? I tried Roxio EMC 7 and same problem. Windows XP Pro SP2. Thanks for any help.

EMC 7 won't work if you have IE7 (or IE8) and/or WMP11.

What computer do you have? Did you install to a clean hard drive (no malware) that was defraged and with your anti-virus off?

Digital Guru: Thanks for the response. This same program worked before on the same computer without any problem. The computer is a Compaq EVO. What I've noticed is Roxio EMC 8 now puts an icon in the System Tray which says Media Services Manager, which was never there before. Now my feeling is that this application is interfering somehow with my other media programs. How can I get rid of it? I am running IE6. Thanks for any more help.

You could try disabling it in process but it may need to be running. Go to start, run, type in msconfig, then OK. Go to the startup tab and uncheck it, click apply. Reboot, acknowledge that you have changed the start up (windows posp up) and not show again.

If it runs worse , simply put a check mark next to it where you unchecked it.

That's a pretty old computer.

Digital Guru: I tried that but it did not work. I then installed a copy of Roxio EMC 10, same story. Every time I try to play an .AVI file I keep getting the Windows Explorer pop up screen with the message: "Windows encountered a problem and needs to close...". The screen is then repainted. This is driving me nuts. Any more suggestions? Thank you.

Is this all AVI files or just this one? Does the AVI file play in something like VLC (free media player)? Download and run gspot on the file. It will tell you what kind of file it really is and if you have the right codec for them.

Have you checked your hard drive for malware? Have you recently run a registry cleaner? Is your hard drive defragged?

and of course, the obvious question - what new programs /updates have you installed since it ran well the last time?

Perhaps time to do a clean uninstall/install.. Print off and follow the instructions exactly.

Try playing those AVI files without any Roxio products installed just to see if is a Windows or other problem.

Guys: Thanks for your help. I believe I have the solution from some good folks. I just type regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll in the RUN field to fix my problem and regsvr32 shmedia.dll to turn it off. I tried it and it worked like a charm. Thanks again. Cheers!!!!!

So you uninstalled shmedia.dll, and then reinstalled it again? That's what those commands do.

Strange, but thank you.

It's not a Roxio file, it's a Microsoft DLL - looks like it's connected to Microsoft's digital rights management, so it's a Microsoft problem - again.

Digital Guru: I did not turn it off again. Sorry if I did not make myself clear. I meant IF you need to turn it off then how you must uninstall it. Cheers!!!!!

Off the topic question. Can you not see that all of these folks have names listed? None of them are named Digital Guru. Honest.