Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom\u2019s Hardware.\u00a0 He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-25/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Kunal Khullar Social Links Navigation News Contributor Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.
pjmelect Its not just MP3 files it is any media that VLC can play. I figured out the solution just after the last update of VLC when the problem first occurred. I was annoyed that it was Windows Defender that was causing the problem, Microsoft needs to sort this out. Reply
USAFRet "We also tried to replicate the issue on a Windows 11 machine; however, VLC launched normally, and we did not experience any noticeable delay when playing an MP3 file." I also see zero issue. Music, video, whatever. Win 11 Pro, fully updated. VLC v 3.0.23 Reply
bit_user The article said: A more reliable solution is to add an exception for the VLC installation folder in Microsoft Defender itself. This should prevent Microsoft Defender from interfering with VLC's cache files and avoid the same issue from recurring. While the workaround seems relatively simple, it is still far from being ideal. It creates a blind spot, where some malware could then compromise executable code without being detected. However, unless it's a targeted attack to take advantage of this specific issue, malware will likely also attack other files and be detected then. It's been a while since I've done software development on Windows, but we used to exclude the build location of our projects, because antivirus programs would otherwise cause build times to grow unreasonably large. Reply
MisterNES People are still playing MP3s? I know. I know. Some people don't like using streaming services. All good, but this issue isn't. I haven't used VLC in ages, but if I were to do so, I would be pretty damn annoyed with a 33-second delay on account of some Windows BS. Reply
Gurg After installing the W11 update on 8/11/2026 MSI Afterburner started having issues. I tried uninstalling it and reinstalling but it would not run correctly and allow me to set overclocks. Also having similar problems with 3dmark benchmark programs on Steam. When tried to load selected tests it hung up on opening it and stalled. Again tried uninstalling 3dmark and reinstalling it, then verifying the files. Same problem. @Mister NES I have lots of old MP3s on my PC from album disks I downloaded years ago when I still had a cd/DVD player on my PC. Still listen to them occasionally. Tried a couple today after seeing this and mine still work OK. Reply
wakuwaku Maybe its better to label himself as wannabe dev. Real devs would know the first thing to look at when there is a problem on your computer is to look at the OS (Yes that includes anything based on Linux.). Hardware and drivers come second, including things like firmware and bios. The software that is having issues is always the last to have caused said issues, regardless of it being open source or not. Reply
FunSurfer What about the VLC problem that after pausing a video and running it again the picture get all pixelated? Well Zoom player was better option, but after deleting almost all its codecs after an update it wasn't unusable anymore. Reply
Ogotai MisterNES said: People are still playing MP3s? i do.. i have 2 32 gig usb thumb drives with my music on it, one for my car, one for the family car… about half full i think… i dont use streaming, as i dont have that much data on my phone, 4 gigs/month 🙂 and the part, that the quality of streaming, isnt that good.. and if you get no signal…. well.. have fun trying to stream any thing 🙂 i dont use VLC, i use media player classic, which is part of K lite codec pack, been using it for quite a few years.. has played everything i have tried to play…. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/vlc-media-player-bug-reportedly-causes-33-second-delay-when-playing-mp3-files-on-windows-developers-say-microsoft-defender-is-to-blame#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.