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Question

by Patrick: How to fix my computer freezing when watching videos?

Lately my computer will randomly freeze occasionally when I try and watch a video. What are some good remedies? I have windows 7 by the way with google chrome browser.

Best answer:

Answer by Kyle Affolter

bandwith internet streaming? delete browser data aka go into chrome settings and hit history then select clear browsing data then clear all time… also make sure that you don’t have any apps open in the background and that your power settings are set to high preformance

Answer by Nick

There is a possibility of a virus. You need to do a full scan of your computer using a good antivirus software.

Cheers.

Answer by gikstar

I would suggest that you start with opening up your case when it’s not on and it’s cold. Look for dust and blow it our of your computer… start with the power supply, processor heatsink/fan and the video card if you have a separate video card. Your computer could be overheating.

Next I would download two programs, Ccleaner and Defraggler which are ‘free’ if you choose to download the free version. Download from the Piriform website www.piriform.com/

Install and run these programs starting with Ccleaner first.

Before I run Defraggler, I usually turn off ‘System Restore’ which will remove all of the old restore points and then turn it back on again. Now I run Defraggler.

So, Ccleaner (usually referred to as Crap Cleaner) will remove all of the temporary internet files and such and clear up space on your hard drive. Defraggler will defragment your hard drive by moving all the various parts of a file together, making it faster for the computer to find a file and load it.

If you have recently upgraded your virus protection to ‘Norton’, that could be what’s slowing you down also. Norton is a resource hog and you need a fast system to utilize it and not slow you down.

Hope I’ve been able to lead you in the right direction and that it’s not your hard drive that’s going bad!

Answer by John

Check the internet.

Download ccleaner and follow on screen instruction.

Download graphics driver.

Answer by BADDOG

First, I up voted gikstars answer. Except, I would check for dust around the fan outflow area and the “breathing” hole in the case, before opening the case. It never hurts to clean the dust from the computer every 3 to 12 months, depending on your environment. ( how much dust is in the air ).

I suggest a system clean up with, as gikstar said, ccleaner. I also use malwarebytes (malwarebytes.org *free*) and adaware (also free) to finish. If all 3 cleaning programs come back with a “clean” report, you are ok there.

Next, I do not like google chrome. It is quite simply a branded version of firefox. I recommend just using firefox, since it doesn’t have the branding software and therefore is much faster. Set your homepage to google start page, (that is a very basic page, low graphics and therefore will open nearly instantly) * This part is to make sure you are not wasting memory or processor resources on junk you don’t need*

Next, you did not say if you were watching online videos, such as on youtube, dvds or from your hard drive (avi, mpeg, etc format) so I will list a few solutions that apply to all the above.

Make sure, if you are watching online content, that you are not uploading or downloading in the background. File sharing is bad, M’kay? (as related to using up internet bandwidth while watching online content) and if you use a wireless connection or wireless enabled connection, make sure you have it locked with a password, so the guy next door can’t steal your signal, and bandwidth you need to watch online content.

If you are watching dvd movies, make sure your disks are clean and are not scratched or damaged. Buy a dvd cleaner disk and run that in your dvd drive a couple times to clean the lens. A dirty lens will also cause video freezing and pixelation.

Movies on your hard drive (mpeg / avi / etc) can sometimes be contaminated with malware or even just have damaged file content, such as small packets that could have been dropped when they were added to your hard drive (via download, creation from another source, or moved from one media to another *such as from a thumb drive to your computer hard drive* Know your source to make sure your files are clean and lessen the chance of corruption.

Disable any software that is running that does not need to be running while you are watching videos. You did not say what kind of processor you have, how much memory your system has, or what kind of video card you have installed. Factory made systems have notoriously poor video cards, they are meant as office machines, not home entertainment units. Therefore, any thing that strains the system resources will affect your video, especially if your video is “onboard” (built in to the motherboard as compared to a removable video card). The actual dedicated video card is better, since it has its own resources and does not need to share with your system.

All in all, follow gikstar recommendations, consider the items I noted here, and you should come out ok. I would give gikstar your “best answer”

The other answers I actually down voted, since “it’s a virus” is basically the first answer out of an idiots mouth when talking about computers and pretending they know something. Or because they just weren’t relevant or assumed facts not given in your question. For example, if you watch movies on dvds, then “get a faster internet connection” would not solve anything, since dvds dont use an internet connection. (just as an example)

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