Can't run winamp properly

[Drat]

Winamp no longer works correctly on my system. When I exit, I get the "this program has performed an illegal operation" warning. When I click the close button, the warning pops back up again and again. I can't CTRL-ALT-DEL out of this so the only way out is restarting the computer.

I don't know what could have caused this. All I know that is the day it started I was going to get rid of the innoreal Realmedia plugin because of the problems it caused (It wouldn't run Realmedia videos and only seemed to work as long as Realplayer was still on the system). When I went to unintall (and then reinstall) winamp (as I didn't know which files to remove, and I had only one or non-standard two plugins in there anyway, and their installers were still on the system too), it acted weird. It would behave like I clicked nothing, but the mouse cursor would change to the 'working' sand timer for about ten seconds. I restarted and removed winamp via Add/remove programs, then I installed winamp again, only this time I quit mid install (the screen after the screen that has the green text and files being copied to various places.) This was because I was moving my mouse around and I thought I might have accidentally clicked the close 'X' button on the window that appears during one part of the copying process. The installer warned that setup was not complete when I clicked the 'X' on the screen after the copying screen (not the one I thought I had clicked, which now I guess I hadn't) in order to quit. I quit anyway and it showed up the "this program has......" you know the song. I restarted to get out of the illegal-op loop and uninstalled then re-installed winamp. It ran, but the demo file didn't work. I went to the menu and re-associated the audio files with winamp, but when I quit, it illegal-opped again. I then restarted, uninstalled winamp, repeated the process, same problem. This has gotten rather irritating.

It seems that if winamp is exited after most files are associated (those not associated with winamp if you don't select 'associate with files' during the install process) then it illegal ops. So I could install it with that option unchecked, then associate them in winamp, or install winamp with the option checked, and all I have to do is exit and the problem occurs. If it is only associated with the default files (if the option wsa unchecked) then it exits properly.

So I gave up and uninstalled winamp again (after restarting, as the illegal-op loop ties up winamp.exe and doesn't allow it to be uninstalled).

Also, I ran regedit and noted that winamp still appears in a lot of places. Should this be? It should be gone if the uninstall worked right. I have since eliminated practically every reference to winamp in the registery. The problem still occurs.

And here error details from an old version of Norton Crashguard and the Illegal-op dialogue box.

Crashguard report:

The 16-bit program 'OleMainThreadWndName' caused the error: General Protection Fault (GPF).

Winamp caused a fault in DMUSIC16 at address 3a4f:0022 (0001:0022)

To date, 2 fatal errors have been recorded in this program.
Date: 03/20/01 22:54:09
Registers:
AX=0001 CS=3a4f IP=0022 FLGS=0246
BX=01a3 SS=3a67 SP=da94 BP=dac0
CX=3a5f DS=3a67 SI=3a5f
DX=3a4f ES=3a67 DI=0224
Bytes at CS:IP:
ca 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Stack dump:
0000 0c93 0147 0000 0c99 0147 0000 0000 0224 3a5f dac0 dab4 01a3 3a4f 3a5f 0006



Standard windows 98 "this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down." (When close is clicked, it pops up again and again endlessly):

WINAMP caused an invalid page fault in
module KERNEL32.DLL at 015f:bff9d709.
Registers:
EAX=c002f8d0 CS=015f EIP=bff9d709 EFLGS=00010212
EBX=007cfe28 SS=0167 ESP=006cfe58 EBP=006d00f4
ECX=00000000 DS=0167 ESI=00000000 FS=0d4f
EDX=bff76859 ES=0167 EDI=bff79198 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
53 8b 15 dc 9c fc bf 56 89 4d e4 57 89 4d dc 89
Stack dump:

Could someone please help me?

re-install/Update direct-X

http://www.microsoft.com/directx

[DJ Egg]

Innover's Real Plugin is represented by in_ra.dll in Winamp\Plugins dir.
As stated in the readme file, this plugin requires RealPlayer to be installed.
To remove plugins in future, follow the guidelines here:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=35601

Regarding your current problem:
1. Uninstall Winamp again (via Add/Rem Programs)
2. Delete the Winamp dir (C:\Program Files\Winamp by default)
3. Delete C:\Windows\Winamp.ini
4. Remove all refs to winamp in Registry
5. Reinstall Winamp.

Other things you can try (in addition to sawg's suggestion):
Use "WaveOut" Output instead of "DirectSound" (Prefs -> Output)
(Re)install latest soundcard drivers.
Repeat steps 1-4 above. Step 5 : install an older version (eg. 2.65) c/o
http://www.winampheaven.com

[Drat]

The problem isn't with the innoreal plugin anymore.
I only re-installed to get rid of it.
The main point is I once quit mid install, and since then winamp screws up when it is exited and has been associated with files other than the the standard ones if you don't use associate with files during install.

I will try re-installing directX 8.

[NeoRenegade]

Then totally uninstall winamp (after uninstalling, go into My Computer ow Windows Explorer and manually DELETE the winamp folder) and then install it again.

Then tell us what happens.

[Drat]

Winamp hasn't been on my system for some time now.
And all references in the registry are gone.

[DJ Egg]

Huh?
First you tell us that Winamp doesn't work, now you tell us you don't even have it!
If your intention was to confuse us, believe me, you've succeeded.
Were you looking for tech support, or were you just reporting the fault?

[Drat]

I've solved the problem.

It was Norton Crashguard causing it.

If it's active and winamp is exited...Bang! Illegal op!
If it's off, not a problem.

The annoying thing is, that Crashguard needs the CD it came on to uninstall, and I have lost it.
I'll just weed it from the registery when I get the time.

[DJ Egg]

Yes, Norton Crashguard = an utter load of crap!
Speaking from experience, it causes more problems than it's worth.
I don't care what anyone else says, but everyone I know who's ever used it says the same . . . and yes, they've all got rid of it now too.
Though it'd still be wise to have a virus checker with Real-Time Protection running in the systray, such as InoculateIt. Plus, I also use Anti-Crash in the systray (say byebye to all Windows crashes & illegal op messages) . . . top stuff indeed . . . and both 100% freeware!

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you got Winamp reinstalled & working ok.