mp3's Fail to load & cause Audacity to freeze

[justjessee]

I have been using 1.3.11 just fine up until a few days ago when things just stopped working. Every time I tried to "Apply Chain" to files, it would load an mp3 up until 4 seconds left then Audacity would freeze and start "Not Responding". I figured it was just a glitch, rebooted my laptop then went about my business. I tried simply loading an mp4 but the same problem occurred. It would load up until it showed 3 or 4 seconds in 'elapsed time' then Audacity freezes and requires manual shut down. So I did a full uninstall, installed the same version. No go. I uninstall that and install version 1.2.6, same problem. Uninstall that and install version 1.3.7...same deal. I ask my husband who is very tech savvy what the deal is and he is stumped. I give up for a few days. I open up 1.3.11 today and try loading an mp3 for the heck of it, Audacity goes into not responding mode but instead of force closing it I just let it sit stewing away for a few hours. I come back to see that it has opened the mp3 and is working fine. Huzza right? So I go to open another mp3 to work on....the problem reoccurs. Audacity freezes, everything stops when it gets to 3/4 seconds in elapsed time, and it stays that way for a long time. I'm not going to sit and wait out Audacity every time I need to work on an mp3.

Has anyone had similar problems? Anyone have any idea what might be wrong on my end that is angering an otherwise well loved and glitch free program that I use quite often in the past?

I'm Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (And I've been using beta versions of audacity for months now with no problems on this same laptop). Even when it freezes, Audacity seems to be eating up over 50% of my processor. Things get pretty warm when this glitch pops up.

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU
AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 89 °C
Griffin 65nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB DDR2 @ 399MHz 6-6-6-18
Motherboard
Quanta 3045 (Socket M2/S1G1)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor on ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (HP)
Hard Drives
320GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HM320JI ATA Device (IDE) 47 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T50L ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device


Ok, if any more information if needed let me know otherwise any help would be much appreciated!

--
Steadfast,
Jessee

[steve]

Is this with all MP3s?
How big are the MP3s?
What about other file formats such as WAV?
How much free disk space do you have?
How much free RAM do you have?
Do you get a lot of disk activity while this is happening?