Windows 7 PC stops responding when opening media attachment in an email.

[billyc99]

I am running Win7 build 7000 on my Acer Aspire 5000 laptop. The only problem i am having so far is that when attempting to open a media attachment from an email source, the laptop goes into a "freeze" mode. CTRL>ALT>DELETE has no effect. Unable to shut down or do anything as the cursor freezes as well. I have to unplug my power cord, remove the battery, reinstall battery and then power back up. I am then allowed to restart in the safe mode which I do. An idea what is causing the freeze-up? thanks for your time folks. Cheers and beers to all

 

[cmn]

I am running Win7 build 7000 on my Acer Aspire 5000 laptop. The only problem i am having so far is that when attempting to open a media attachment from an email source, the laptop goes into a "freeze" mode. CTRL>ALT>DELETE has no effect. Unable to shut down or do anything as the cursor freezes as well. I have to unplug my power cord, remove the battery, reinstall battery and then power back up. I am then allowed to restart in the safe mode which I do. An idea what is causing the freeze-up? thanks for your time folks. Cheers and beers to all

Thank you for providing your computer SPECS in your post which is genearlly a rarity in most posts

Regarding your question about Opening Media File attachment from an email and Computer Freeze, there are so many variables to look at and therefore a simple "try this" kind of answer is going to be a 'hit or miss'.

Some of the factors to consider are:

• Assuming that the media file is from a trusted source and has no virus or other types of Malware your Antivirus, AVG is having trouble with, other things to consider are,
  • is the file corrupted during its email transfer,
  • the size of the file and your available Computer resources [ Acer Aspire 5000 MAX RAM 2GB DDR333; [SIZE=-2]40GB ATA/100 or higher] [/SIZE]
  • [SIZE=-2]the File type [ Example if the file type is different from the Multimedia Programs you have in your PC [/SIZE]
  • [SIZE=-2]or you have the Programs installed but you have yet to configure this program to be associiated with the file type you want opened by that application[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-2][SIZE=-2]My suggestions:

1. [SIZE=-2]Try to [SIZE=-2]Download & [/SIZE]Save to a named folder in your Download folder[/SIZE]
2. [SIZE=-2]Check the file using Antivirus.[/SIZE]
3. Check the Properties and decide file type
4. [SIZE=-2]and then try to open with Windows Media Player in Win 7 [SIZE=-2]or another appropriate Program[/SIZE].[/SIZE]

Hope this helps
[/SIZE][/SIZE]

 

[billyc99]

Thank you for providing your computer SPECS in your post which is genearlly a rarity in most posts

Regarding your question about Opening Media File attachment from an email and Computer Freeze, there are so many variables to look at and therefore a simple "try this" kind of answer is going to be a 'hit or miss'.

Some of the factors to consider are:

• Assuming that the media file is from a trusted source and has no virus or other types of Malware your Antivirus, AVG is having trouble with, other things to consider are,
  • is the file corrupted during its email transfer,
  • the size of the file and your available Computer resources [ Acer Aspire 5000 MAX RAM 2GB DDR333; [SIZE=-2]40GB ATA/100 or higher] [/SIZE]
  • [SIZE=-2]the File type [ Example if the file type is different from the Multimedia Programs you have in your PC [/SIZE]
  • [SIZE=-2]or you have the Programs installed but you have yet to configure this program to be associiated with the file type you want opened by that application[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-2][SIZE=-2]My suggestions:

1. [SIZE=-2]Try to [SIZE=-2]Download & [/SIZE]Save to a named folder in your Download folder[/SIZE]
2. [SIZE=-2]Check the file using Antivirus.[/SIZE]
3. Check the Properties and decide file type
4. [SIZE=-2]and then try to open with Windows Media Player in Win 7 [SIZE=-2]or another appropriate Program[/SIZE].[/SIZE]

Hope this helps
[/SIZE][/SIZE]

cmn thank you for your reply. I saved one of the media files to a folder on my hdd. I checked properties of the file, it is recognizable format for windows media. I opened the file and the media player immediately froze on me. I am unable to CTRL>ALT>DLT or anything else other than stop the power source and restart in safe mode. So back to square 1. Any ideas my friend?

 

[cmn]

cmn thank you for your reply. I saved one of the media files to a folder on my hdd. I checked properties of the file, it is recognizable format for windows media. I opened the file and the media player immediately froze on me. I am unable to CTRL>ALT>DLT or anything else other than stop the power source and restart in safe mode. So back to square 1. Any ideas my friend?

Hi billyc99,



If you have already ruled out that this attachment is not a malware, and you have implied this is unlikely to be a corrupt file, and your suspicion seems to be pointing toward the new Win 7 system as the culprit, the next approach in my opinion is to verify that is by opening the file in another fully funtional different Version of Windows in the same PC or different PC.

• Saving it to a Flash drive might be the easiest to transport it to another PC.
• If networked , just open it from a networked PC.

I am unable to CTRL>ALT>DLT or anything else other than stop the power source and restart in safe mode. So back to square 1. Any ideas my friend?

This makes the suspicion of a Corrupt file or corrupt WMP at the top of my list of suspicion.

If another system can read the file then the problem might be in your WMP or Win 7 Beta. Unfortuantely you cannot uninstall WMP 11 via Control Panel.

To get more clues to this unexpected behavior, check EVENTS Viewer in Computer Management

1. RIGHT click Computer >Manage
2. In the in Computer mangement window Left pane , expand by clicking the (Plus sign)+System tools
3. Expand +Event Viewer
4. Check various logs there for clues especially System and Application

• Last option Reinstall Win 7 as Custom Install

Hope this helps

 

[billyc99]

pc stops responding when opening media attachment in an email

cmn, here is what i have. I tried the event viewer route. I am not a complete novice though i am not sure what to do with what i have found. i am attaching a couple of files from my excursion with Event Viewer...i will be honest, i do not know what it all means. Bare with me if you will. I really appreciate all of the help that you have provided thus far. I am excited about the new release. i wish MS would do it sooner than later.

 

[billyc99]

cmn, i don't know if any of the above files will help you. i hope so. thanks again for your support. cheers and beers.