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Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 01:53 AM

I have a problem reading files, the document is saying it is empty, but when I click on the document I can see my file but I can not open it, nor copy, delete or move it! It is only on about 10 files (the most important ones on the PC) the files are wmv, avi and mpg. I can in fact read other files of this type, please can someone help me?

Jenna

fredg · Nov 30, 2005, 05:22 AM

Hi,
You can't really "read" these files; they are movie and music files.
When you left double-click on them to try opening them, they should open in a program like Windows Media Player or other.
Do you have WMP?
If so, open WMP, then at the top, click on Tools, then Options.
Then, click on the File Types tab at top.
Left click on all the different file types shown, then click on Apply, and OK.
Close the WMP. Then, try opening your files again.
If this doesn't help, please post back.

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 09:06 AM

Thanks for answering.

I have done as you said and all the file types were already ticked, I still can't do anything with the files. It is odd as when the mouse passes over the document it says that the document is empty, but when you click on the document there is a file inside... when the mouse passes over the file it tells you the size etc of the file but I can't do anything with it! If I right click it misses out the normal options such as copy, paste etc!

PLEASE HELP :confused:

LTheobald · Nov 30, 2005, 09:20 AM

Out of curiousity - where they ticked with a grey box or a white box? If it was a grey box you want to click on them once to turn it to a white box with a tick, then click apply.

If that doesn't work, try this:

Click Start (>> Settings) >> Control Panel
Double click on Folder Options
Click on the "File Types" tab
Once the registered file types box has been filed, click in it once. Then type "MPG".
The file type for MPG should now be shown. If there is a Restore button, click that and OK out of the window. Try again.
If you have an advanced box, click that and then select Windows Media Player from the list shown. OK out again.

The fact that not even copy, paste etc. shown scares me - that will be shown regardless of the file type displayed.

Might be worth doing a quick scan for malware as something could be mucking around with your settings. Try downloading just Microsoft Antispyware for now (link in my signature below). It's probably the most user friendly and will give us a quick fix if this is the problem.

fredg · Nov 30, 2005, 09:22 AM

Hi,
What folder are the files located in? Such as My Documents, or My Music.
And, what is the full name of one of the files, such as mymusic.mp3, or younglady.wmv, etc.
Thanks.

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by fredg

Hi,
What folder are the files located in? Such as My Documents, or My Music.
And, what is the full name of one of the files, such as mymusic.mp3, or younglady.wmv, etc.
Thanks.

If I was to give you the full path of where the files were it would be writing an essay! Why do you ask that anyway?

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 09:41 AM

Hiya, in fact I said that it doesn't open... it does open but it acts like the file has nothing in it, although it does have a size in the details part! Sorry I know I am not very good at explaining, but the problem is that my whole system is in french... so I am translating!

LTheobald · Nov 30, 2005, 09:42 AM

What are you attempting to open these files in exactly? Right click on the file, choose "Open With" - is there anything in there? For file types such as avi, mp3, mpg & wma - you will want a media player such as Window Media Player or Winamp.

Also did you see my earlier post?

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 09:54 AM

Yes and I did what you said... still nothing!

I do have windows media and the file did open, and play 2 days ago!

This is very confusing!

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 09:56 AM

Do you speak french? That way I can tell you exactly what it tells me when I try to open it like that - it doesn't open at all that way and it say there is a problem with the extension name!

LTheobald · Nov 30, 2005, 10:01 AM

OK if it opened and played two days ago, then I suggest doing a system restore to a point 2 or more days ago. To do that do the following:

Click on Start >> Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> System Restore
Select "Restore my computer to an earilier time" and press next
Select a date (one in bold) from the calendar. If you say it stopped working a few days ago, select something Monday or earlier. Choose a restore point on the right and press OK.
Read what is says on the screen the press next
Let the computer do it's thing and then reboot
After the restart - try the files again.

I believe this should fix it. By the way - a system restore does not delete any files, make you lose data etc. it just changes your systems settings to a point a few days back. It's completely reversible to. So just to point that out again you don't lose any data and it's completely reversable.

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 10:01 AM

Also there is no way of changing the name... I don't have access to the properties!

LTheobald · Nov 30, 2005, 10:02 AM

And I don't speak French but my girlfriend is fluent so I can get her to explain. So feel free to say it in French.

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 10:04 AM

Thanks for helping on this.

We have tried doing the restore already, but it says that windows can not complete the restore!

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 10:16 AM

Ok, so when we try to open the file directly by double clickin gon the mouse, windows media opens but there is no file name written!

If we try to do 'open with' and we chose windows media, first of all it says "Le fichier selectioné porte une extension non réconnu par le lecteur windows media. Toutefois celui-ci peut le lire. L'extension n'étant pas identifée par le lecteur assurez vous que le fichier provient d'une source fiable."

We then click yes, and we can see the name of the file now written at the top, but we have the following message:- "Le lecteur windows media ne peut pas acceder au fichier. Peut etre que ce dernier est en cour d'utilisation, que vous n'avez pas access à l'ordinateur où il est stocké, ou que les parametres du proxy ne sont pas correct."

When we click close it appears that the file is ready to play, we click play and nothing happens. To the right of the screen there is the name of the file, and to the left of the name is a red exclamation mark.

Jenna99 · Nov 30, 2005, 03:24 PM

Thanks so much for your help, but finally we have got the files to work.

We still haven't understood what the problem was, but we managed to copy the whole folder and paste it to the desktop - from there for some strange reason we were able to open the files normally - although there is still the red exclamation mark!

Jenna

LTheobald · Dec 1, 2005, 01:42 AM

So are you able to view these files properly now?

It sounds to me like the files are not what you think they are. For example, they might have an extension of mpg but they could have the wrong exception and instead be something else.

Can you give us an example of just one of the files you are having trouble with - the filename & extension and what you believe the file to be.

As with last time, if you want to post in French - feel free. I'll get it translated and post a reply up here.