I have a problem with DEP (Data Execution Prevention) that keeps closing down all folders if I try and play any video stored on my PC, ther files are all fine as i’ve tried them on other comps and there is no problem, i’ve checked thorugh Google for an explanation but cannot find it in ‘plain’ english its all techy jargon.
Anyone know of a solution or even just give a slightly more easy to understand answer, its only started to happen recently when these folders with videos have been on here for ages.
Assuming you’re in Vista, navigate to “Performance Options.” There should be a DEP tab on that screen. Click it, and then you can disable DEP. I do not know, however, what security risks this may elicit.
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties
Go to Advanced System Settings if you have Vista
That will get you the System Properties dialog
Go to the Advanced tab
In the Performance area click on Settings…
That will open the Performance Options Dialog
Go to the Data Execution Prevention tab
whew!
Now you can change the options for DEP
You likely have the option “Turn on DEP for all programs and services except for those I select” enabled. That’s all good. That’s how I have my computer set up. But you’ve got a program that is misbehaving. Look in the list of programs listed in the dialog there and put a checkmark next to the one that has to do with video. DEP will be disabled for that application now.
Before you disable DEP for that application you should first make sure you have the latest version of that player or codec. Or do a reinstall of that player and codec just to be sure. If you still have problems after that then you can consider disabling DEP for that application.
There are videos going around that are infected and try to exploit buffer overflows in players. That is exactly the type of situation DEP is designed to protect against. Don’t go disabling DEP if you suspect you might have a suspicious video file.
I’m running XP on my home PC but I found the performance properties and disabled the DEP for windows explorer (as that is what kept closing down, along with the folder the files were in) however this didn’t fix the problem.
The files (videos) are all fine as far as i’m aware, they run no problem when left on the desktop, there is only a DEP issue when you put them all in a folder.
I’ll try the corrupt codec solution John suggested next as it the vids all work fine on other PC’s so there possibly is a corrupt file somewhere.
That sounds like it could be a poorly programmed Explorer extension. It is possible to add extensions of sorts to Windows Explorer to give it new features. For example an extension might add a feature to Explorer to read and edit tags inside of media file.
So you’ve likely got a third-party extension loading in Explorer that is causing Explorer to crash.
Run the utility AutoRuns from Microsoft SysInternals. Go to the “Explorer” tab (not the “Internet Explorer” tab) in AutoRuns. Look for third-party (non-Microsoft) extensions. See if you can make an educated guess about which one(s) may be operating on media files. Clear the checkmark in front of those. Reboot. And see if that fixes the crashing.
Before you reboot, enable DEP again for Explorer.
I suspect that once you identify the offending extension that the DEP crashes will stop. Then figure out what installed that extension and let the developer know that their extension is causing a DEP error with some videos.
That sounds like some pretty good advice i’ll take a look at that once home again and see what happens, as I wouldn’t want the error spreading to my music and pictures folders too.
Nope cannot find the offending program, there is a stupidly huge list of files in that explorer list when using AutoRuns and I have no idea what exactly it could be.
I’m going to try one more thing suggested by another help site and then it may just have to be a full reinstall yet again.
Tyler, your rabid fanboy-isms aren’t helping anyone. Did you read the original post? This is a user who needs a simple solution to his problem.
While Ubuntu is easier to install than a lot of *nix variants, it’s still Linux and it’s still going to be a pain to install and configure software. You’re trying to sell a racecar to someone who wants a bike… and furthermore you aren’t selling it very well.
I’ve challenged you before to weigh some pros and cons between Ubuntu and Windows / OSX, and you failed to say anything… as you still do. How is someone supposed to understand why they should switch OSes if you can’t tell them how they’ll benefit and what sacrifices they’ll have to make?
If you’re going to be a proper geek, you’re going to have to talk the talk… get to researching, boy!
I agree about other linux distributions being a pain to install, but Ubuntu really has the stupid easy installation part down, assuming your hardware is pretty typical.
There is no reason to do a full reinstall of Windows just to fix this problem. Disable DEP for Windows Explorer and you’ll be fine. It’s not ideal because it lowers one of your defenses, but it’s not a critical problem.
I’m pretty certain it’s an extension loaded by Explorer that is causing the problem. I have had the same problem with Explorer causing DEP faults. I tracked down the offending extension and all was good again.
Try running the command line version of AutoRuns. It will spit out a text file. Email me the text file and I can take a look to see if there is something suspicious.
Run the following command in a command prompt window:
autorunsc -e -m > autoruns.txt
That will create a text file in your current directory. The text file is named “autoruns.txt”. Email me the text file and I’ll take a look.
This gets to my previous rant about “lazy” developers. It’s a fair guess that the developer(s) and tester(s) have never tried running their program with DEP enabled. Every developer and tester should have DEP enabled on their computers. It catches bugs and it’s just not nice to ship something that fails in this way on a users computer.
I’m talking applications here. There’s no autorun / setup.exe / installshield combo for Linux (although apt-get comes close) that makes all applications a snap to install, even if you’re a total n00b.
And, yeah, assuming your hardware is typical… that’s never a good assumption to make. I’ve always been lucky enough to have one “atypical” piece of hardware in every system I own. Yecch.
Very few Linux live CDs actually boot on my computer with their default configuration. There is something odd about my computer setup that trips up most Linux Live distributions. Figuring out how to get around that is often an adventure and easier in some distributions than others.
The Kubuntu Gutsy live CD had that problem. Had to boot to a safe graphics mode before I could install. The Kubuntu install also required me to create a new partition for the swap. That gets too geek for non-geeks. The default options for the Kubuntu install would also have wiped my Windows install and the secondary “safe” option would have shrunk my Windows partition down to an unusable size just to make room for the PIG of Kubuntu. Had to select custom options in all those places. A monkey could not install Kubuntu correctly.
Installing Vista was easier. Fewer options during the install and a monkey could do it.
Or at least all that I have tried. It is a 9 MB free program, no ads or crap. No need to bother with codecs. Install VLC and make it your default vid player. Perhaps that will fix it.
To install new applications in Ubuntu I click on the “Applications” menu (very much like the Start menu) and select “Add/Remove…” A window pops up with various categories of apps and a search bar to find apps. I select what I want, click “Apply Changes,” and enter my password. Minutes later the application is installed via my broadband internet connection. No credit card, no shopping cart, no install media. How much easier could it be? IMO, this is far better than Windows.
I better stop before I start sounding like an Ubuntu fanboy. I’ve played with the “real” linux distros in the past, but I’m so over it. Manual configuration is for suckers!
Cheers very much i’ll have a look at getting that text file later today once i’m back home again. The problem seems to have kicked off after a possible dodgy copy of Premiere and/or some DVD ripping freeware that I was using to convert some DVD format to internet friendly media.
(Feel the light) All the videos play fine in VLC player providing I open them directly through the player and not through explorer, it is great little player that plays loads of stuff, I also recommend people use it too.
