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Win 7 pro x64 locks up computer in media playing scenar
Background: Currently running Win 7 Pro x64 (installed flawlessly) on Dell zino 3250e processor with 2gb ram, ati 3200 gpu. Computer works fine for browsing etc indefinitely. But when it comes to playing media files, the computer will (about once a day) freeze/lock-up (where nothing can be done except to hard reboot). I am certain there is nothing wrong with my HW. In fact, Vista Basic always worked rock solid on the box with zero freezing issues.
Example of what can cause freezing:
(1) If I start wmc, and try playing a ripped DVD. It will start to play and then just freeze permanently.
(2) If I'm using vlc to play a avi, and in a separate browser window try to play youtube, computer will lock up/freeze. Again only recourse is hard reset.
One can certainly make the case a win 7 video driver might be the culprit or that I am missing some codec -- but my major gripe is that the latest Win 7 OS is unable to exit gracefully. I would not be so annoyed if it just crashed the offending program -- my annoyance is that the whole damn computer has to be hard-reset. (No mouse control, no kb control, no alt-tab to get out of current window, not even Ctl-alt-del).
Any hints/pointers to make the box give me a control to at least get the task manager going (WITHOUT rebooting) would be great. Thanks.