The developers of the VideoLan project have warned users about a regression occurring on the Windows 11 platform, resulting in a 30-second freeze before starting playback of certain file types, including MP3. This regression is attributed to a bug in the Microsoft Defender application that appeared after the latest Windows 11 update. Due to this bug, the cache directory for VLC plugins was quarantined by Microsoft Defender.
To resolve the freezes, it is recommended to reinstall VLC, clear or regenerate the plugins cache with the command 'vlc --reset-plugins-cache'. The issue can also be addressed by adding vlc.exe to the exceptions list in Microsoft Defender.
Source: opennet.ru
