Thanks for the reply optodata.

I do have several image backups of the system drive. I also have restore points going back about a month. My restore points at that time were over 100GB and I cleaned them up. (Also, this is about the time I installed the two ssd's.)

Your suggestion is worth trying. I'm thinking quite possibly this "issue" I have may have been there a long time. Everything else "works", so until PD13 I didn't know there was anything wrong. Meaning, the restore points / images may likely contain whatever the problem is that's now reared its ugly head at PD13.

But its worth a try and maybe that'll be my afterwork project tomorrow!

Thanks

Lou I'm new to Video and Video Editing, but I'm learning quick 'cuz the grandkids aren't waiting!!

I'd think you should try the oldest restore point you have, and if that doesn't work, then try an older system image. It sounds like your computer will have to relearn that it has SSDs now, but there's actually a chance that that's where the problem crept in.

Creating a new user profile only takes a minute, so you could try that right away and install PD from there to see if it works. Fingers crossed!

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

optodata Actually,its you thats being innacurate as you so kindly put it.

All editors have to interface with the os,they interact but are separate. Everyone knows that different editors use different code and codecs but if theres a breakage on the windows side relating to h264 then theres a high probability it will also affect other software as well.The bug is in windows which has nothing to do with the software thats using it.Thats why i suggested trying the h264 video in another editor.

My experience with BSOD is the exact opposite to yours.The majority are caused by buggy software/drivers/ hardware incompatibiliy with software your trying to run and conflicts caused by one program having an adverse effect on another.Reinstalling windows wont fix them.Its all the previous that need to be fixed. You certainly cant guarantee anyone that an OS reinstall will fix their problem Even microsoft couldnt make that guarantee.

Every program on your computer requires it to be in essentially perfect health, not just PD . Thats pretty obvious. A Drive image copies the bugs as well.System restore points record changes made to your OS and programs installed/uninstalled since your last one.That might work if windows update or a software install which is the cause ,is no loger installed.New user account will have zero effect.A computer doesnt have to "relearn" that its using a SSD ,you put them in,there supported by windows ,they work.

The fact that the OP has carried out a repair of his windows install and PD still crashed. is evidence that his problem has nothing to do with the OS.Since PowerDirector is not the cause either.It must be something related to his own particular hardware/ software configuration.

dellboy35 I'm sorry if you took my attempt at explaning my troubleshooting process as some kind of insult. That was not my intention.

There is a difference of opinion here, and you or OP or any other member is free to take any or all or none of the advice offered. You and I arguing over which approach to take will not solve the issue.

I actually agree with the gist of your comments but we diverge when getting down in the details. Our experience with BSODs also differs, and yet I can completely agree with your statement about how reinstalling Windows would not resolve the issue if the problems were caused by buggy drivers, etc. That does not appear to be the case here, and you can verify that by reviewing the DxDiag results.

I will strongly disagree with your statement of how it's "obvious" that every program needs a computer to be in perfect health. Certainly a broken installation of Windows isn't even going to be functional, but it's not a black or white situation where everything either works or it doesn't. Playing solitare or using Word in no way pushes any limits on a PC, but gaming, CAD modeling and video editing actually do. That's why it's far more likely to run into a crash like this when the system is being pushed, or in this case, being asked to decode a clip in the timeline.

I completely agree that any system restore points or images made after the issue occurred will not be helpful, and that's why I asked OP to use the oldest restore and then an older image if that didn't work. I have no way of knowing when the problem occurred, but it's possible that restoring to a previous time will solve the problem.

When it comes to guarantees, I will stand by mine because I have seen this type of problem resolved every time a full reinstall is performed. Again, I would not make this statement if I thought that the issue was caused by a bug in PD, a bug in Windows, a problem with a codec or with OP's media. Everyone else can play OP's clips so we know his system should be able to as well, and the question is how best to cure the underlying problem?

I would ask you to reconsider your statement that a new user account will have zero effect. Have you seen how many times that is recommended by Microsoft and others to either troubleshoot or fix some very difficult problems? I don't know if that will work in this case or not, but it is something that could be done quickly and it would be obvious right away if it helped or not.

Finally, I'm not sure if you realize the differences between an in-place reinstall and a full clean installation. An in-place reinstall can address many issues but it leaves in place all the registry settings, DLLs and executable files for all the installed programs, and only a full reinstall can guarantee that the entire OS is in a known condition.

Based on all the evidence and specifics of this thread, once a full reinstall is completed I am 100% confident that OP will be able to install and update PD and his clips will play as expected.

If you have other ideas for helping OP, please share them. I'd be happy to be proven wrong about an OS reinstall, especially if there's a better, faster, easier method. Everyone benefits from knowledge shared and discovered on this forum!

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Hi everyone,

An update - today I tried some recent suggestions from optodata (thank you).

I uninstalled PD13, created a new user account, and re-installed PD13 from the new user account. Unfortunately, the timeline crash occurred same as it has previously. so I uninstalled PD13 again and deleted the new user account.

Next, I went to my restore points and was surprised to find there were none prior to yesterday. There were no restore points available prior to the time when I performed the in place repair of win7 yesterday!. The oldest restore point is yesterday and its label says install. My guess is when an in place repair is done it purges the earlier restore points as a housekeeping matter.

I may try an earlier system image, but won't have time tonight. I'm currently creating a current backup image to revert to if I restore an earlier image and it also exhibits the crash problem with PD13. (I'm getting a strong feeling that this week end I'll most likely be doing a clean install of win7 . . . . )

Thanks again.

Lou I'm new to Video and Video Editing, but I'm learning quick 'cuz the grandkids aren't waiting!!

Hi Everyone -

Just wanted to post an update on my situation. I installed win8.1PRO this week end and have gotten my most important programs re-installed. The big key is how did PD13 fare? Well, like optodata guaranteed it would, it now works!! I can drag any of my videos to the timeline and PD13 doesn't crash. Even though I went to win8, I'm sure a clean install of win7 would have worked also.

Between the new install and re-install of my programs, I haven't had a chance to edit video yet, but am looking forward to learning the program and being creative with PD13.

I want to thank everyone that participated in helping me, I appreciate it.

Lou I'm new to Video and Video Editing, but I'm learning quick 'cuz the grandkids aren't waiting!!

That's fantastic news! Congratulations on fixing the problem, and thank you for being willing to do the heavy lifting

Now it's time to focus on those videos of your grandkids, right?

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Well done optodata, I've been reading and watching this thread.
Dafydd