Hello, When opening a video AVI file there's a random chance that it will lock the system up completely and the only way to bring the system back is a hard reboot. After the reboot I can run avi files normally until the next lock up, including any files that have previously crashed the system. The lock up is random and total. There is no mouse or keyboard response and no blue screen, just my frozen desktop. The players I've tried are vlc and wmp and I've installed other codecs. The system still locks up. The only info I've found on the subject is that there was a similar issue with an RC version, but I can't find any solutions to the problem. Any ideas? System: w7 Home Premium 64bit q6600 MSI P7N Platinum Geforce 8800gt x2, Latest Drivers, WDDM 1.1 DX11 6 gig Ram

Hi Milo99, I would like to confirm the following questions first: 1. Does it work if only one display card is installed? 2. What is the model of the hard disk? 3. Do other video format files work normally? I would like to suggest you update the BIOS first. Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by a company that is independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability. If it does not work, I also suggest you check the hard disk error and test the issue in Clean Boot. If the issue persists, would you please upload the following information to SkyDrive and provide us the link for analyzing? You may check how to use SkyDrive for more information. System Information ======================== 1. Click Start, type in msinfo32 (without quotation marks) in the Search bar and then press Enter. 2. Choose Save from the File menu and save it as an NFO file. 3. Find the file, right-click on this file, click "Send To", and click "Compressed (zipped) Folder". 4. Send the compressed file to us. Arthur Li - MSFT

Hi Arthur, I've installed Update (KB976098) yesterday and I haven't had any lockups so far. I've opened about 50 different avi files and the system is solid. While the lockups are random it's still surprising to have run so many file without any problems. Whatever the issue was it seems to have been addressed in that update. 1. I have not tried removing one of the display cards but sli is hardly ever enabled. I have a dual monitor setup so sli mode is disabled until I run a game. Also, the lock ups happen regardless of which monitor they're on. 2. The drives are partitioned over 2 disk drives. -Hitachi 320G Sata2 7200rpm 16mb (hdp725032gla) -Seagate Barracuda 1tb Sata 7200rpm 32mb (st310003 33as) 3. All other video formats work correctly. Only AVI files would cause the random system lockups. My Bios and all other system drivers are up to date. All of the partitions have been scanned and report no errors. As I've said, the system has been able to run many avi files without a lock up. If it does happen again I will try the clean boot suggestion and upload my system info. Thanks!

Hello again. So basically the lockups/crashes didn't stop entirely but was still rather rare. In the past few weeks they've happened far more frequently. Also I've noticed that starting certain games triggers the same lockup/crash as the videos. And while certain games are more prone to crash than others it's still rather random. At this point I'm not sure what else to try. I think it could be nvidia's drivers (I have the most current version). And as I've mentioned, my bios and all of my motherboard/system drivers are up to date. Should I still upload the sys info on Sky Drive? Thanks.

Hi Milo99, What’s the result in Clean Boot? Yes, you may still upload the System Information to SkyDrive for analyzing. Good luck!Arthur Li - MSFT