VLC Crashes Everytime I Use It!

[astrogiblet]

Hello. I've used VLC for years and years and years without ever having any issues until a few weeks ago. I updated to version 1.1.7 and all the sudden every time I use VLC it crashes. This most frequently happens after watching AVI files. I'll double click to exit full screen and the entire program will look screwed up, all the buttons will be covered up by a broken frozen image of the video output. Then I'll close the program or it will crash. When I re-open it, everything is fine, it asks me to submit a bug report (which I do) and it'll be fine again until 3/4 of the way through a 20-60 minute AVI file. If I minimize, exit full screen, or try to rewind a few seconds it'll lock up and/or crash. On top of that, it also crashes while streaming an online radio station I listen to every night (Just audio, no video). I'll be surfing the web and all the sudden I'll stop hearing music and the program will be closed. I'll re-open and it'll ask me to submit a bug report.

I tried completely uninstalling 1.1.7 and going back to 1.1.6 and that did not solve the problem. Each time I uninstall/reinstall VLC I check the box to "remove preferences and cache". I had been having other issues so I performed a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64, got all the latest drivers for every component for my computer, and installed VLC again (1.1.7). Same problem as before. This time I completely removed 1.1.7 with Revo Uninstaller (Removes all traces in registry and files/folders), and installed 1.1.4. I'm experiencing the exact same issues with 1.1.4 as I was with 1.1.7.

The only thing I had changed in my system prior to having this issue (on my old install of Windows) was updating to Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. I don't think this is causing the issues, though, as I've got friends with Windows 7 + SP1 + VLC and they aren't having any problems.

System Specs:
Fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (Completely updated including SP1) running ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 (No firewall or any extra junk, just the AV)
All the latest drivers for every component in system from the manufacturer
Flash, Java, Silverlight, DirectX are all up to date
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Quad Core 3GHz AM2+ Processor
6GB RAM
Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H Motherboard
XFX Radeon 5850 1GB VIdeo Card
Several 1TB-2TB HDD's
Using onboard audio
Using dual monitors + DIsplayFusion but I have been for a long time and never had any issues prior to this.

[krisisbitter]

Hello astrogiblet.

These kinds of intermittent or inexplicable errors are the most unwelcome right?

VLC does depend on your installations of Flash, Java or Silverlight as far as I understand. They can be discounted.

Not sure whether VLC uses any DirectX calls for video rendering in any of its codecs... (not that I'm putting this the right way necessarily).

Is VLC the ONLY app which is so unstable now?
Even if it is - have you verified that your RAM is running stable? The fact that it isn't can show up in weird isolated behaviours like these. The way to test it is with Memtest (search for it via google); you burn it to a temporary CD, or I believe you can install it to a usb flash drive also.
Then you boot from it, and it checks your RAM array fully to make certain it is running faultlessly at your settings.


Allow me to make a side recommendation: you really should be running some kind of firewall if you are connected to the net and there is no firewall in your router... even so you should run a firewall to prevent malware and non-malware liberally being able to access the net from your machine.

I suggest Comodo firewall - though I've only run it on XP, I presume it's now been tested fully on Win7. Then pay attention to when you state that the FW should 'block' a program from accessing the net AND that it should 'remember my answer'.
You can also easily disable the firewall via the tray icon when you want it to be shut down.

[rverboom]

I have the same issue you describe, with mp3 files.

Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (including SP1).

This behaviour has started recently, and I suspect that a M$ update has something to do with it.
I have switched to windows media player for now.

I have not started reinstalling things before I now that will fix things.

[00marco00]

Hi,

On my XP machine, VLC crashes every single time I start it, even before opening any file. The second time I start it, it works. This only happens since I upgraded to 1.1.8. Apart from VLC, my computer works fine and is not unstable in any way.

Any ideas what the cause for this odd behavior could be?

Thanks,
Marco

[VLC_help]

00marco00: have you tried to remove %appdata%\vlc folder?

[brendanl79]

VLC_help : I had the same problem as 00marco00, tried your suggestion and it seems to start up OK now. Thanks!

[Io_oI]

I've got the same problem on both my desktop pc with windows7 x64 and my notebook with windows XP and not only since the current release but also with earlier versions. It seems to me that it occurs when I try to open a video with a different format or codec than the one thats playing in the minimized window. if its all the same its working. disabling the audio track didn't change anything for me. any help?
thanks

[VLC_help]

Have you tried VLC 2.0.0 nightly builds?
http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/?C=M;O=D

[Io_oI]

all right, thanks a bunch
it works fine now using the latest nightly build

[Eleonore]

I have the same problem you guys have, whenever I use vlc it crashes, they tell me to send a bug report and then they tell me there was a problem with the FTP server and everything comes back to normal. Could you please tell me how to fix this without the nightly builds?

[VLC_help]

You can remove %appdata%\vlc folder after every crash. (I know, not very good solution)