BleepingComputer.com: Can't Watch Any Video Types

i have a dell 8250 in which i installed a dvd-rom from an older compaq that i used to have. since i moved the dvd to the dell i have been unable to watch dvd movies. dvd games play fine except the videos in them usually don't play. i was able to watch movies with a codec i'd downloaded on the compaq but that was with WMP9. Recently i became unable to open any video file with any player. the computer tries to lock up and the player has to be closed with the taskmanager. after that my machine runs slow and acts up until it is rebooted. i think this might be because i've installed and removed(possibly not entirely) several different codec packs in an attempt to play dvds. any help would be greatly appreciated

to BC

There could be a number of issues at hand here. The shortest way is to do the following START RUN and type eventvwr. This will open a screen where you can choose from 3 options (Application System and Security) Please check there for red crosses, selec them them and post the contents here.

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