I've done some more research into this problem and have found that it is because I have the 3D visualization called "Picture Terrain" turned on. When I played the same song several times with it turned on, it crashed MC every time, when I turned it off- the song played through. This doesn't happen with all songs though.
All your help is appreciated. Here's my system:
Media Center Registered 10.0.155 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\
Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1699 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 261 MB, Free - 86 MB
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpclient.010817-1148) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2750.167 (xpclnt_qfe.040728-2019) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.115 (xpclnt_qfe.021108-2107) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.57 (1008) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1997 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.57 (1008)
Ripping / Drive D: DVDROM 12X Mode:ModeSecure Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive E: HL-DT-STCD-RW GCE-8160B Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: Yes / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: Yes / Play sound after ripping: Yes Soundfile: C:\WINDOWS\Media\notify.wav
Burning / Drive E: HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8160B Addr: 1:1:0 Speed:16 MaxSpeed:16 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None