Streaming Vidoes

segasega

Streaming videos on my PC is just a no no, its a pretty old system but even playing youtube videos at 240p doesn't even run smoothly :mad:. The videos just skip along. Any ideas?

Heres the PC (from Speccy)

Operating System
MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP2
CPU
AMD Athlon XP
Thorton 0.13um Technology
RAM
2.00 GB DDR @ 166MHz (3-3-3-7)
Motherboard
MSI MS-6712 (Socket-A) 28 °C
Graphics
LS704U (1024x768@60Hz)
128MB GeForce FX 5200 (Undefined)
Hard Drives
75GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG SP0842N (PATA) 36 °C
373GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD400LD (PATA) 27 °C
Optical Drives
PLEXTOR DVDR PX-755A
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612
Audio
Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller

gaelicyoda

A couple of things:

(1) What's the internet connection like? Have you any other devices you can connect to see if the internet might be the bottleneck?

(2) What is your connection method? Wireless or wireline (ethernet)?

platinums

It could be the low data read rates from the hard drives, in fact it could be a bunch of things based on the spec of the PC.

QUESTION:
did it ever play them smoothly?
What I mean is, has this problem just developed?

The CPU doesn't seem that incapable, but i think a lot relies on my original question.

If its a new problem then a PC Clean-up might be in order. Otherwise, if its never played the vids smoothly theres a good chance the PC is past it.

platinums

gaels' right though, if the net connection is not there, then doesn't matter how fast the PC is, it wont play them smoothly.

segasega

Im on a wireless connection to UPC 20mb and its always been playing vids like this since I set the pc up a few months back. See my newer machine kicked the bucket so I had to throw this machine together for something to use. Think the PC probably is just past it!

platinums

Even with older machines, I still would not rule out a fresh install of windows.
Although you mentioned its always been like this so I would assume it was choppy since the last time you installed windows.

20mb! then we can rule out your internet being slow, no harm in going to http://speedtest.magnet.ie or http://www.speedtest.net/ and posting the results though.
This will also tell us if the computer is getting consistent speeds for steaming. As the internet might be fast , but the systems ability to take it on board might also be causing issue and slowing down so a few speed tests would rule it out. Run it a few tiems in succession.

areyawell

Try this:

When the youtube video is playing right click it and click settings. There should be a box that says "enable hardware acceleration". Click this off so theres no tick in the box, press okay. Refresh page and try. This usually works on older systems and allows videos to play smoothly.

Is their antivirus on the computer, make sure its not doing a scan when windows boots up and there's not a load of crap running on the PC.

Could be virus ridden or might just need a clean install of Windows XP as that operating gets quite slow over time.

riclad

Make sure theres 5gig free space,windows like s free space,slows down if drive is nearly full.DO a full virus scan, try plugging in thru ethernet.
Switch router channel to a different one,eg wifi channel 7 , or 10.
on upc 20meg,router, i was getting 11meg per sec on hp laptop,2,oghz cpu. 15 ft from router.
pc may be too far .
my router ranger is maybe 18ft max.
after that signal is close to zero.
try opera ,or firefox, more stable than chrome browser for youtube.
your pc is fine for youtube, rev3 .download chrome ,try that.
at least on my pc.
whats your download speed for a,podcast, audio ,?eg cagcast.
a pentuim 4 ,1.oghz, cpu, 1gig ram can load youtube ok.

areyawell

I dont think its the router guys! Had a netbook like that, wasnt powerful enough to play youtube videos, would lag every second.

Try and download google chrome as well and try that over Internet Explorer. Internet explorer uses a lot of resources.

platinums

areyawell wrote: »

I dont think its the router guys!

I agree but best to rule it out.
Have a defined starting point and be precise about testing it, otherwise anything else you try will get confusing.

desaparecidos

If you're using Internet explorer then use Firefox or Chrome.

Install adblock and try html5 video.

segasega

areyawell wrote: »

Try this:

When the youtube video is playing right click it and click settings. There should be a box that says "enable hardware acceleration". Click this off so theres no tick in the box, press okay. Refresh page and try. This usually works on older systems and allows videos to play smoothly.

Is their antivirus on the computer, make sure its not doing a scan when windows boots up and there's not a load of crap running on the PC.

Could be virus ridden or might just need a clean install of Windows XP as that operating gets quite slow over time.

Unticked the box, didnt change anything. No anti virus crap running in background and the windows was only installed a few months back.

areyawell

segasega wrote: »

Unticked the box, didnt change anything. No anti virus crap running in background and the windows was only installed a few months back.

Try Google Chrome then I'd say and download the latest flash player.

Are the drivers installed for the computer?
If type cmd in the box when you click start command prompt should come up.
Type "devmgmt.msc" and press enter. Are there a load of yellow icons in it?

segasega

Flash is up to date and Im using Chrome already.
All drivers are fine.

Tis a funny one.