Delphin
14th October 2006, 07:51
I have finally found a fix to a very annoying multimedia bug on my Win98 laptop.
I had problems with general slow downs and crashes with multimedia files which have gotten worse and worse over time.
For example just checking the file properties of a multimedia file from the ‘right click’ menu would take several minutes for large files.
After running about 5 different virus and spy ware programs with absolutely no problems found (I have a firewall, run Firefox as a browser and am generally pretty careful), I was really stumped.
Frustrated, I tried to upgrade to WinXP on the laptop but it didn’t like my display chipset, so I had to play Microsoft ‘mother may I’ games and move the XP license to one of my desktop computers.
The result?
Now, unfortunately, it’s my desktop that’s working like s%#t.
I detest XP even when it isn’t crashing (which it does a LOT) and my laptop, having been freshly reloaded with Win98 is back to working better than ever.
In fact, even the above-mentioned problem with slow ‘file properties’ did not crop up at all after Win98 was first reloaded.
Then I noticed something very interesting.
After I loaded all of Bill Gates helpful W98 ‘Updates’ from Microsoft, my system started to become slower and slower and less and less stable and (wonder of wonders), the problem with slow multimedia file properties came right back.
I found some system process viewer utilities and was able to find out that checking file properties was triggering some crypt lib dll’s from Microsoft that seem to be listed on the web as being part of Microsoft’s DRM.
This obviously did not make me very happy, because I have no use for that kind of crap even if it was working properly, and certainly don’t need it trashing up my otherwise perfectly good laptop.
Shure enough, after figuring out the arcane world of ‘PropertySheetHandlers’ I found that I had one in my REGISTRY labled:
CryptoSignMenu
After backing up this registry key, I deleted it and, surprise, surprise, no more several minute delays in checking long multimedia file properties.
This whole ‘CryptoSignMenu’ function is a bit mysterious anyway as it seems to COPY the file to your windows\temp directory (calculating some kind of signature as it goes) then it just deletes the temp file without doing anything else with it.
There is absolutely NO reason to COPY a file just to read it and calculate it’s hash or signature and doing it that way slows things down by a huge factor.
Copying from C: to C: is slow as hell and just doesn't make any damn sense just to read a file, until you remember that deleting the copy doesn’t wipe the actual sectors on the hard drive that were allocated to it. (so how much you want to bet it writes the signature and FAT sector list somewhere?)
Even blowing off the paranoid aspects of this REALLY WEIRD behavior, there is NO doubt that this ‘CryptoSignMenu’ garbage is slowing things way down and SCREWING UP MY SYSTEM.
Having your whole system slow to a craw for a couple minutes (with no way to even cancel out of the process) just because you tried to check how many bytes were in a large file (before the ‘properties’ box finally displays) is total B$LLS#%T.
For the benefit of anyone else who has noticed that it takes DAYS to check the ‘properties’ of a giga-byte sized multimedia file from the right click menu, the ‘PropertySheetHandler’ key I deleted was:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\CryptoSignMenu
I have noticed this trend again and again lately, where some ‘helpful’ update from Microsoft trashes my system, and, quite frankly, I no longer think it’s an accident.
I have coined the phrase “DirectHEX” (TM) for this little game that Microsoft seems to be playing.
No not "Direct-X" (as in multimedia), Direct-HEX as in ‘put a HEX on’.
Using DirectHEX technology Microsoft insures that reluctant users will have real INCENTIVES to upgrade.
Just create some really lame ass ‘Update’ features like DRM (that no one even wants in the first place), and while your at it slip a few outright bugs and a lot of annoyance ‘features’ that just don't work quite right for older operating systems like ME or Win98. Don’t worry, you can always clam it was just a big accident (oooops boy is our face red, snicker, snicker, snicker).
Why?
Well . . . did you notice above that I mentioned that I had gotten so frustrated and fed up with things slowing down and crashing in Win98, that I tried to upgrade to XP?
Bingo!
That’s the nice thing about being a monopoly, you can play these kinds of bulls$%t games and actually be REWARDED with even MORE BUSINESS, when people are FORCED into upgrading.
Sad.
There is just no way all these slow downs, crashes and other annoyances after ‘Updates’ are accidents, and there is a billion dollar legal settlement waiting for anyone who can gather the evidence and get some Microsoft insider to rat them out.
It’s bound to happen sooner or later.
P.S.
After struggling Microsoft.com for hours with NO LUCK and finally having to figure out the PropertySheetHandler thing on my own, by looking up the ACTUAL REGISTRY KEY VALUE I did find another link from an unofficial Microsoft user forum.
In other words I had to KNOW THE ANSWER in order to FIND THE ANSWER (and even then only on an unofficial user forum).
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=67485&st=0&p=464995&#entry464995
In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that I couldn't find the fix to this very obvious bug on the 'official' Microsoft.com web site.
After all it wouldn't make any sense for Microsoft to go to all the trouble to create these carfully crafted 'malware' anoyances for older operating systems, then let you weesle out with an easy to find fix.
If anyone else has been hit by this, I hope that the above info helps.
I had problems with general slow downs and crashes with multimedia files which have gotten worse and worse over time.
For example just checking the file properties of a multimedia file from the ‘right click’ menu would take several minutes for large files.
After running about 5 different virus and spy ware programs with absolutely no problems found (I have a firewall, run Firefox as a browser and am generally pretty careful), I was really stumped.
Frustrated, I tried to upgrade to WinXP on the laptop but it didn’t like my display chipset, so I had to play Microsoft ‘mother may I’ games and move the XP license to one of my desktop computers.
The result?
Now, unfortunately, it’s my desktop that’s working like s%#t.
I detest XP even when it isn’t crashing (which it does a LOT) and my laptop, having been freshly reloaded with Win98 is back to working better than ever.
In fact, even the above-mentioned problem with slow ‘file properties’ did not crop up at all after Win98 was first reloaded.
Then I noticed something very interesting.
After I loaded all of Bill Gates helpful W98 ‘Updates’ from Microsoft, my system started to become slower and slower and less and less stable and (wonder of wonders), the problem with slow multimedia file properties came right back.
I found some system process viewer utilities and was able to find out that checking file properties was triggering some crypt lib dll’s from Microsoft that seem to be listed on the web as being part of Microsoft’s DRM.
This obviously did not make me very happy, because I have no use for that kind of crap even if it was working properly, and certainly don’t need it trashing up my otherwise perfectly good laptop.
Shure enough, after figuring out the arcane world of ‘PropertySheetHandlers’ I found that I had one in my REGISTRY labled:
CryptoSignMenu
After backing up this registry key, I deleted it and, surprise, surprise, no more several minute delays in checking long multimedia file properties.
This whole ‘CryptoSignMenu’ function is a bit mysterious anyway as it seems to COPY the file to your windows\temp directory (calculating some kind of signature as it goes) then it just deletes the temp file without doing anything else with it.
There is absolutely NO reason to COPY a file just to read it and calculate it’s hash or signature and doing it that way slows things down by a huge factor.
Copying from C: to C: is slow as hell and just doesn't make any damn sense just to read a file, until you remember that deleting the copy doesn’t wipe the actual sectors on the hard drive that were allocated to it. (so how much you want to bet it writes the signature and FAT sector list somewhere?)
Even blowing off the paranoid aspects of this REALLY WEIRD behavior, there is NO doubt that this ‘CryptoSignMenu’ garbage is slowing things way down and SCREWING UP MY SYSTEM.
Having your whole system slow to a craw for a couple minutes (with no way to even cancel out of the process) just because you tried to check how many bytes were in a large file (before the ‘properties’ box finally displays) is total B$LLS#%T.
For the benefit of anyone else who has noticed that it takes DAYS to check the ‘properties’ of a giga-byte sized multimedia file from the right click menu, the ‘PropertySheetHandler’ key I deleted was:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\CryptoSignMenu
I have noticed this trend again and again lately, where some ‘helpful’ update from Microsoft trashes my system, and, quite frankly, I no longer think it’s an accident.
I have coined the phrase “DirectHEX” (TM) for this little game that Microsoft seems to be playing.
No not "Direct-X" (as in multimedia), Direct-HEX as in ‘put a HEX on’.
Using DirectHEX technology Microsoft insures that reluctant users will have real INCENTIVES to upgrade.
Just create some really lame ass ‘Update’ features like DRM (that no one even wants in the first place), and while your at it slip a few outright bugs and a lot of annoyance ‘features’ that just don't work quite right for older operating systems like ME or Win98. Don’t worry, you can always clam it was just a big accident (oooops boy is our face red, snicker, snicker, snicker).
Why?
Well . . . did you notice above that I mentioned that I had gotten so frustrated and fed up with things slowing down and crashing in Win98, that I tried to upgrade to XP?
Bingo!
That’s the nice thing about being a monopoly, you can play these kinds of bulls$%t games and actually be REWARDED with even MORE BUSINESS, when people are FORCED into upgrading.
Sad.
There is just no way all these slow downs, crashes and other annoyances after ‘Updates’ are accidents, and there is a billion dollar legal settlement waiting for anyone who can gather the evidence and get some Microsoft insider to rat them out.
It’s bound to happen sooner or later.
P.S.
After struggling Microsoft.com for hours with NO LUCK and finally having to figure out the PropertySheetHandler thing on my own, by looking up the ACTUAL REGISTRY KEY VALUE I did find another link from an unofficial Microsoft user forum.
In other words I had to KNOW THE ANSWER in order to FIND THE ANSWER (and even then only on an unofficial user forum).
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=67485&st=0&p=464995&#entry464995
In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that I couldn't find the fix to this very obvious bug on the 'official' Microsoft.com web site.
After all it wouldn't make any sense for Microsoft to go to all the trouble to create these carfully crafted 'malware' anoyances for older operating systems, then let you weesle out with an easy to find fix.
If anyone else has been hit by this, I hope that the above info helps.