Windows 7 Help
It's free to register, to post a question or to start / join a discussion
Laptop freezes when playing video
Likes # 0
Posted June 20, 2012 at 3:38PM
Hi,
Just recently my laptop has been freezing during video playback. The audio stutters or runs out of sync with the video, the video becomes grainy and jumping 3 or 4 seconds at a time. Just generally struggles to cope with the file. It varies as to how long this takes to kick in. Some times it's half way through a film, sometimes within a few seconds. Once it starts everything is painfully slow and I have to reboot. I've also noticed it takes much longer to reboot sometimes.
I checked in my programs and the Adobe Plug-in had an "X" over it so I uninstalled and then re-installed, thinking I'd found the issue, but it's still the same.
I've run AVG to look for viruses and also cleaned up the registry and so forth with other software but the problem remains. It only starts though when I run video files, this is what seems to start it.
Any help gratefully received.
Rob
Likes # 0
Posted June 20, 2012 at 4:31PM
The first thing to do is to check that your sound card and video card drivers are updated.
Sometimes laptops overheat and this can cause this problem. Does your laptop have adequate ventilation?
Is your laptop connected to the mains power when this happens as sometimes this can be due to lack of power.
Likes # 0
Posted June 20, 2012 at 6:33PM
Hi there, thanks. As far as I'm aware I'm up-to-date with windows. Is there something separate I need to update besides that?
Likes # 0
Posted June 20, 2012 at 6:35PM
Oh and everything else is fine. Power, cooling.....
I've uninstalled Adobe Flash completely as it's included in Chrome but I don't think that's relevant anyway because Flash is for things like YouTube. I think....
Likes # 0
Posted June 20, 2012 at 10:13PM
If you go to start and type in Device Manager then scroll down to sound video and game controllers - then double click to expand. Right click on each item and choose update driver software. Do any other drivers have a yellow question mark by them?
Have you updated the Chrome browser - Select About Google Chrome under the Tools menu to verify that your Chrome browser is up-to-date. (The wrench icon near the Chrome address bar indicates the Tools menu.) It can take some time before updates roll out to all Chrome users.
When you talk about video do you mean that you are trying to play a disc when the freezing happens? I am a little confused as you mention "video files". If you use a different browser then you will need to have Flash Player installed for that browser.
If you are having trouble playing video files such as BBC iplayer or from a website can I suggest that you try another browser with a newly installed version of flash player.
Likes # 0
Posted June 21, 2012 at 9:42PM
Make sure you have the latest Codecs for your system. You have not said what your OS is, but to get the up-to-date Codecs just Google 'latest Codecs XP' or whatever OS you are using.
Likes # 0
Posted June 21, 2012 at 9:43PM
Make sure you have the latest Codecs for your system. You have not said what your OS is, but to get the up-to-date Codecs just Google 'latest Codecs XP' or whatever OS you are using.
Likes # 0
Posted June 21, 2012 at 9:43PM
Sorry about double post! Dunno how that got there.
Reply to this topic
This thread has been locked.
Check out PC Advisor's other tech forums
Top 5 Most Popular
-
Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review
-
Best cases and covers for the new iPad: protect your tablet in style
-
What’s the best mobile OS: iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 or BlackBerry 10?
-
Apple iWatch release date and specs: when will Apple's iWatch launch
-
How to set a song on your iPhone as a ringtone
