Hi. The team over in the malware forum directed me here for help.

I had a malware infection at the beginning of September, and with the help of oldman960, was able to clean it out. The thread for that cleanup is here:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Need_Help_Co...10_t106730.html

Now I am having issues with Windows Media. Not sure if these are related to the malware cleanup, but they started around the same time. Specifically, I have the following symptoms:

1. When trying to rip a CD in Windows Media Player, it fails if you try to rip to the WMV format. Ripping to MP3 format works fine.

2. Some video files (WMV) that used to play now don't. WMP says the codec is not available, but it is unsuccessful in downloading/installing the codec. (The WMV files in question play fine on my other PCs.)

3. Some other media-related software seems to be corrupted. For example, I cannot uninstall the (no longer used) application Zen MicroPhoto Media Explorer. The uninstall routine fails.

I also have an odd “phantom” folder that shows up under the My Computer display. Not sure if this is related to the Windows Media problems. See attachment for a screen shot.

I have tried a number of fixes, you can read the details starting here:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Need_Help_Co...st&p=603593

A summary of the attempted fixes include:

-- Installation of K-Lite codec pack.

-- Repair of DirectShow installation using Dial-A-Fix

-- Download and install of Microsoft codec pack from here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...ecdownload.aspx

-- Running DirectX diagnostics (DXDIAG), which fails to run.

My OS is WinXP Pro SP3.

Thanks.

- Eric

Just to close out this thread...

I've come to the conclusion in my own mind that to fully sort this problem will require a clean reinstall of Windows. Given the time that will require, I've decided to take the opportunity to go ahead with an upgrade my hardware, and to switch to Windows 7.

Thanks.

- Eric

Thanks for the update.

Let us know if we can help further in the future.