For "Full Sample" AA you need to have a working temp directory setup for saving buffers.
Check user preferences where it's being put at, and check if that place is writable.

We had this error for windows32 reported a couple of times before though, and no clue has been presented for any developer to redo it... the crash happens in the OpenEXR library itself, which we only copy from the ILM website :)

Conclusion: we need someone who can code, and who has the error, to investigate it.

ah, i see. i shall have a look for that directory then, and let you know my findings.
thanks for the qiuck response :)

i have re tested using version 2.63 RC1 and can render 2 layers at a time, which tells me that the buffers are being saved properly in the temp directory, (for some reason it is being sent to a hidden file, it took ages to find!) if i try to render any more layers the system crashes at the c++ run time library and the error reads, application has tried to shut down in an unusual way.

which means i have a work around within 2.63 if i need it,

no idea how to even start learning to code, sorry :(

chris, anther interesting thing would be if you're able to reproduce the issue on other computers?

For each Blender version, startup files are saved in a new directory. A comparison between the two should be done using "Factory default" settings. (File menu)

If you open Blender User preferences, the last tab shows the default paths where temp files go to.

hi Sergey,
yes i get the same issue with my older pentium 4 pc except i dont get the error message, Blender just shuts down. this pc just has 1gb ram and ati graphics embedded on the motherboard, no additional card.

Ton,
i have looked at the tree different versions file settings, the default settings for temp files all direct to the same directory. C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp

do you think it might help if i redirected the files to a different folder that isnt hidden on the system?

I am not a windows user - can't be of much help here... we really depend on a user to experiment and figure out what happens.
This can be so many things - like memory usage for example. Running the latest Blender on older 32 bits systems can always be tricky. All volunteers who help out with Blender switched to 64 bits... that makes 32 bits versions also badly tested.

Thats ok, i can dig around and see if i can find a simple solution. i'm not a coder nor really that computer savvy, but i shall see what i can find.

A developer with access to 32 bits XP tested, without problems.

I now noticed you attached files, the first uses a peak of 1.5 GB memory - your system is running out of memory.
(32 bits can only address 2 GB, that is including space taken by Blender and libraries and the OS - in practice 1.4 GB is max)

Cool Blends btw! That kind of work deserves upgrade to 64 bits :)

oh, my system has 4GB Ram, i was given to understand that Win XP ran with 3.5GB , i wanst aware of the lower limit, this is probably why my particle system was giving me trouble in another blend! very well i shall upgrade as soon as i can.

Thanks for the comments on the .blends but the character models were downloaded from Blendswap, i just rigged and posed them for a concept painting for the recent concept cookie competition. :)

thanks for the help :)