I think learning how to use torrents can make your life so much easier. I think considering your program was working fine for so long that if you have installed anything new...the codecs might be conflicting? basically it sounds like there is something conflicting within your system and I hope your computer friend is able to figure it out.

if you decide to take up learning how to use torrents, I recommend the program utorrent and if you have any other questions I'm online a lot so I should be able to help somewhat.