Problems opening/deleting .MOV files in Windows 8.1

Hi leadhillsmike - sorry you are suffering too :( 

It looks like the only thing that we have in common is the Windows fully up to date :), this may or may not be a coincidence lol. 

I am running on a compaq PC - ipad 4 is creating the .mov files, iTunes version is 11.1.2.32

As a matter of fact, this whole windows 8.1 debacle has finally tipped the husband over the edge and he is going fully apple this week and I must say I envy him.  I cannot because of my websites and the software that I use to build and maintain them so.....

I am getting his pc which is a bit swisher than mine,  -  I will reset it to factory settings  and start afresh with the operating system updates...  

It will be interesting to find out whether this solves the problem.  If it does I will post a message here, infact  will post either way. 

Wish me luck.

Thanks for that Katep don't. Certainly smells more like a Win 8/8.1 disaster.

Look forward to your verdict of the factory reset.... Good Luck! :)

Well now, more information...  I suddenly thought, before I factory reset the husbands pc I would just check to see if his pic has the same issues with .mov files.  And guess what, yes it does,  exactly the same issues viewing any subdirectory with .mov files in it. 

So that is 100% of the PCs under my control with this error. 

Erm.... Hello....  Earth calling Microsoft..... Is anyone doing anything about this or is this a system feature designed to make us all switch to Apple so you don't have to bother? 

Just wondering.   Because not only can we not view our mov files, we cannot see anything that is in a subdirectory with them, and as someone who creates videos for a living this is pretty much everything on my hard drive.

Ouch!

This is getting decidedly compelling, especially as one contribution on this thread has already hinted at a November patch Tuesday update being a possible cause - apparently their beasty was fine until then.

The one I have been working on has exhibited this issue for approximately two months, as best my client can recall.

So, MVPs, do we have any internal wisdom on this? An issue linked explicitly to MOV files, by the look of it, as origin of files varies as does playback software. The common denominator sure is looking like Win 8.1 recent update.

Having said that, it seems this problem has been about since September at least - and my client is not renowned for keeping things up to date in a timely fashion - she may have installed updates in November that dated back a month or three; not a regular user, has a live outside computing.

UPDATE:

Just found a thread on Technet covering this very issue. Mixed benefits with respect to fixes, some worked, some have not and it's suggested that a "bug" may have been reintroduced November.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/abab222f-51b9-4068-af98-47339c0bb5f2/windows-81-file-explorer-crashes-repeatedly-with-iphone-movies-mov-files?forum=w8itproinstall

Current wisdom is the following updates are behind the issue, but removal does not always work. These guys are mostly using Pro version, so updates may not be applicable to basic versions; anyway, here they are - nothing to loose by trying. To quote i_Mike:

To fix the issue, I had to uninstall the following updates:

KB2975719

KB2995388

EOQ ****Back to see if this works.... ****

I have news!

Removing KB2795719 and KB2995388 has done the trick. No more crashes, MOV thumbnails correctly generated, now launches to associated application without incident; and I can access and empty the Recycle bin unhindered by Explorer crashes.

How long this will last is another matter...

Still be watching this space for more insights and experiences.