[adapted from Mad Pierre's post for Vista and Win7 (32 bit)]
I've posted this to hopefully help people who have the same problems others have had. If you are running Windows XP (32 bit versions) and are experiencing Vegas Movie Studio crashing when rendering (especially from HD footage m2ts files) then this may help.
This fix is a summary of advice from the following two threads:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=4&MessageID=695038
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=12&MessageID=695663
The fix
Download and install CFF explorer from www.ntcore.com/exsuite.php
Run CFFExplorer from an account with Administrator privileges
For each of the following files: VegasMovieStudioPE90.exe, VegasMovieStudioPE90k.dll, Sonymvd2pro_xp.dll, m2tsplug.dll, mcstdh264dec.dll, wmfplug4.dll
Note: Some of these are found in the FileIOPlugIns subdirectory. The Sonymvd2pro_xp.dll is found twice (once in the main directory and again under the plugins).
Open the file in CFFExplorer.
On the left side you'll see "NT HEADER".... "DOS HEADER"... etc
Highlight "FILE HEADER" under "NT HEADER"
On the right side you'll see a chart and in the bottom right corner you will see "CLICK HERE"
Click on that and a check box menu system will open.
Scroll down the menu list until you see "app can handle > than 2gig address space" and check that.
Save the file and close.
2. Allow User apps access to more than 2GB virtual memory
Add the /3GB switch to your boot.ini boot configuration file. This file is usually in C:\ (the root directory of your system disk).
If boot.ini isn't listed in C:\, then you need to enable Windows Explorer to show hidden and system files: with Windows Explorer showing the contents of C:\, click Tools/Folder Options..., click the View tab, select "Show hidden files and folders."
You should be logged on an account with administrator privileges and make boot.ini editable, by right-clicking it within Windows Explorer and then clicking on Properties and uncheck the box labeled "Read-only."
Make a copy of your boot.ini file just in case you need to restore it the way it was.
Edit boot.ini with Notepad. Add /3GB to the end of the line that follows "[operating systems]". Your boot.ini file should look something like this (DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR ADDING /3GB):
Restart your PC.
Note: if you change something in boot.ini that makes it invalid, Windows will not boot up. So, do not change anything except for adding the /3GB switch unless you understand the boot.ini file syntax and semantics. If Windows will not start due to a faulty boot.ini file, you should be able to start Windows in safe mode and then replace the invalid copy of boot.ini with the copy of the original you made in a previous step.
That should be it. Don't worry it's not as complicated as it sounds!!
Try rendering some movies in VMS that you had problems with.
I've posted this to hopefully help people who have the same problems others have had. If you are running Windows XP (32 bit versions) and are experiencing Vegas Movie Studio crashing when rendering (especially from HD footage m2ts files) then this may help.
This fix is a summary of advice from the following two threads:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=4&MessageID=695038
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=12&MessageID=695663
The fix
Download and install CFF explorer from www.ntcore.com/exsuite.php
Run CFFExplorer from an account with Administrator privileges
For each of the following files: VegasMovieStudioPE90.exe, VegasMovieStudioPE90k.dll, Sonymvd2pro_xp.dll, m2tsplug.dll, mcstdh264dec.dll, wmfplug4.dll
Note: Some of these are found in the FileIOPlugIns subdirectory. The Sonymvd2pro_xp.dll is found twice (once in the main directory and again under the plugins).
Open the file in CFFExplorer.
On the left side you'll see "NT HEADER".... "DOS HEADER"... etc
Highlight "FILE HEADER" under "NT HEADER"
On the right side you'll see a chart and in the bottom right corner you will see "CLICK HERE"
Click on that and a check box menu system will open.
Scroll down the menu list until you see "app can handle > than 2gig address space" and check that.
Save the file and close.
2. Allow User apps access to more than 2GB virtual memory
Add the /3GB switch to your boot.ini boot configuration file. This file is usually in C:\ (the root directory of your system disk).
If boot.ini isn't listed in C:\, then you need to enable Windows Explorer to show hidden and system files: with Windows Explorer showing the contents of C:\, click Tools/Folder Options..., click the View tab, select "Show hidden files and folders."
You should be logged on an account with administrator privileges and make boot.ini editable, by right-clicking it within Windows Explorer and then clicking on Properties and uncheck the box labeled "Read-only."
Make a copy of your boot.ini file just in case you need to restore it the way it was.
Edit boot.ini with Notepad. Add /3GB to the end of the line that follows "[operating systems]". Your boot.ini file should look something like this (DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR ADDING /3GB):
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /3GB
Restart your PC.
Note: if you change something in boot.ini that makes it invalid, Windows will not boot up. So, do not change anything except for adding the /3GB switch unless you understand the boot.ini file syntax and semantics. If Windows will not start due to a faulty boot.ini file, you should be able to start Windows in safe mode and then replace the invalid copy of boot.ini with the copy of the original you made in a previous step.
That should be it. Don't worry it's not as complicated as it sounds!!
Try rendering some movies in VMS that you had problems with.