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Laptop problem!
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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I think you'll need some half decentish knowledge of laptops or computers to be able to help.
To explain my laptop works fine until I watch a video... that's ISN'T played on YouTube. If I go to watch something on Netflix after 10 minutes it just freezes up and goes painfully slow and useless utill turned on and off again.
I do know YouTube videos are easier for laptops to play than other streaming providers which took my away from my initial guess of it being an overheating issue as all the vents are the the bottom on the laptop. I believe my cpu usage and memory are fine on the laptop. CPU running between 10/20% and memory at 59%.
I didn't use it for a couple of months, tried it again, it worked for 3 days fine then is now starting to give me the same shit...
Is there a way I can check what's wrong or fix it myself without taking it into a shop? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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To be fair OP, there are so many unknowns here it's very difficult to diagnose your problem.
For a start, you haven't stated which operating system you're running.
I'm assuming Windows, but which version?
XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 10?
It could be a codec issue.
It could be a caching issue.
Is your Hard Drive fragmented?
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Sorry I'm not overly laptop smart myself.
I'm running windows 10 on google chrome with itself is up to date.
I don't know what Av software is?
I didn't think of trying a DVD in the drive that's a good idea. Currently downloading my current binging season to see if that would work any better...
Not tried using windows explorer
Not sure how to check or clean caches or exactly what they are?
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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There are many possible reasons with the information given.
If it's 10 minutes or more into a Netflix movie have you compared it against 10 minute or more YouTube video length.
It could be an overheating issue, try running a vacuum cleaner over all the holes in the case. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Fragmentation of your hard drive is when your operating system saves files and, in an effort to use up free space, sometimes splits a file up into bits. It's inefficient, but was sometimes necessary in the days of smaller hard drives. Defragmenting is a process which re-arranges all the fragmented pieces so that the files are stored as one - which means that when the system is attempting to access the file, it isn't jumping all over the disk.
A codec is a file which tells your operating system how to treat certain files. Each video format will have it's own video codec.
Your cache file is essentially an area of your hard drive which is used as temporary storage when you are accessing large files that perhaps you have insufficient free RAM to access.
Windows Explorer is not an internet browser. You are confusing it with Internet Explorer (and to be fair, Google Chrome is so much better). Windows Explorer is an application which allows you to access and manage files on your hard drives etc.
If you're finding that a reboot often solves the problem, it is possible that your issue may be related to memory usage.
It will also depend on the format of the files you are trying to access.
YouTube files tend to be compressed formats and so are smaller in size.
Other formats may be larger in size and this could be part of your problem.
I'm a film maker and a former IT support manager so I am familiar with this.
For example, MP4's are compressed, whereas AVI's are not.
Now that we're viewing everything in HD, AVI's are a lot bigger than they used to be.
You might find you may have to take it along to a specialist, but my recommendation would be to look into the possibility of a memory upgrade - providing your laptop can take one |
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fragmentation shouldn't be an issue as windows 10 does a defrag automatically what anti virus / internet security package do you use? I found that Mcafee screwed up my streaming when I used it so switched back to Norton and all was fine after that, other than that it would need looking at to see exactly what it is doing. |
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Good feedback from others including hornyDJ.
If your hard drive is solid-state, you won't need to defragment it.
Try a different web browser - including Edge, which ships with Windows 10 and compare your results.
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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I've realise that when it starts to go slow or crash through watching videos my CPU usage goes up to 98/100% I close the player and it returned to normal. I know they use a lot but it shouldn't that much. All player are updated. What could be causing it? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Are you trying to run HD streams through the other services that it locks up on? If your laptop hasn't got the hardware it'll slow to a crawl trying to run that kinda programming
Other than that I can only think of drivers being the issue. Try
updating |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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I'm using google chrome and it does it now with downloaded videos.
To my knowledge I'm not encoding anything. Is there a way I can check?
How do I update my driver? |
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By *orum TrollWoman
over a year ago
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dunno how you check for that tbh, but if you're watching them in the correct format for your browser and device they probably aren't doing that.
i'll have a google and see what i can find. CPU processing video i will search. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"have a look in your event log .... it'll give you some clues as to what's happening"
to do that
click on start menu
click on settings
type 'view event logs' into the search bar ....
then let 'summary of administrative events' load up and check the critical list, error list etc.
it'll give you error codes and things which you can google for ... you'll find info in techie forums that might help |
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By *orum TrollWoman
over a year ago
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right you shouldn't be using CPU for video anyway, apparently the GPU is for that. and i googled this 'CPU processing video problems' it came up with results you might find handy?
and this:
The most common reasons for CPU's to go bad are simple:
1. Age. Every machine has its limits. A computer that is five years old or older is considered to be in its grace years. They can just give up.
2. Heat. Overheating CPU's lead to a dead CPU. This can happen when room temperature is often above 80 degrees Fahrenheit and if the computer has an ineffective cooling mechanism inside.
3. Overclocking or Stress. Not all CPU's are created equal. Don't make a dual-core do what an eight-core is intended for. Overclocking has its place, but be careful to be realistic. Also, if a game says it needs a certain minimum to run, don't run it on an under-clocked CPU. The same goes for software for video or photo editing. If you want to over-stress your processor this way, by all means go for it, but otherwise upgrade.
4. Electrical Power Surge. Whether it was the power supply going bad or lightning, any high voltage spike can render a CPU useless. Be sure to have a surge protector and a battery backup attached to your computer to help prevent this sort of thing from happening.
and
Eliminating False Positives
There are other components besides the CPU that can create the above symptoms. This can lead your diagnostics astray.
Below are some simple things to look for that can cause the same symptoms. Once they are eliminated, you may have a bad processor. Otherwise, you have found the real source of the problem.
Check List
1. Heat. Next to dust, heat is the number one processor killer. Most CPUs run from 30 degrees Celsius to 50 Celsius. If your machine is not cooling well, then there is an issue. CPUs above 70 degrees Celsius are in the danger zone. Between 80-85 Celsius is the melting point. Check the heat-sink in your computer and make sure it is clear of dust and obstructions. Make sure the fan on the heat-sink is moving smoothly (3,000 rpm is average +/-.) If the fan and heat-sink are fine, then the thermal compound may be old and dried up. Replace the thermal compound. The thermal compound should be applied evenly, about one mil thick. (Note: System temperatures can be viewed within the system BIOS or by using a utility to monitor the CPU settings.) If you are going to replace the thermal compound, I strongly recommend Arctic Silver 5.
2. Capacitors. Look for any bulging or leaking capacitors on the motherboard near the CPU or memory areas. If there are any bulging or leaking capacitors, this creates voltage irregularities, thus system errors.
3. Power Supply. Much like bad capacitors, bad power supplies can create all kinds of strange voltage and amperage irregularities. Check the power supply with a tester to see if it is in good health.
4. Video Card. If your system has a dedicated video card, check its capacitors and fan as well. Video cards can freeze a system, in the same way a CPU can. They can also keep a computer from POSTing |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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to be honest it does sound like your heat sink and fan etc will be blocked up with fluff and lint .... basically all laptops are vulnerable to this as they suck air in through vents underneath the laptop, so if you use it in bed or just on your lap even, it'll be sucking in the lint from the fabric on your bedding or trousers etc. the only thing to do is to open it up and clean it out with a can of compressed air ... you can buy an aerosol can of compressed air for a couple of quid .... check youtube for videos of how to dismantle your particular model of laptop ... if it's overheating you have nothing to lose because it'll eventually burnout anyway ..... one last thing .... download a little program called "speedfan". it'll tell you the temperatures of the internal components which is handy. it even allows you to adjust the speed of the fans on some models of laptop |
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if everything works fine for 3 days then the issues comes back after a long break of none usage it points to your hard drive failing
another way to test this is to get a film or download a film first then play it on your machine
what you may find it does the same goes slow and only a reboot will clear it |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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can you try watching netflix in another browser?
Either Internet Explorer or Edge (as they are pre-installed in windows 10) and see if you have the same issue? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I'm using google chrome and it does it now with downloaded videos.
To my knowledge I'm not encoding anything. Is there a way I can check?
How do I update my driver? "
Go to device manager, find the video driver in the list, right click it and select update driver from the drop-down list
If you can't do that just give us the make and model of your laptop and it'll be easy to find the official drivers page for it online
Another thing it could be is your RAM/memory usage. If its running video through the browser ok but locking up when you open a media playing program or external program like Netflix, that extra program might be tipping memory usage over the edge
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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I'm using windows 7 home premium
On a Dell system Inspiron N4120
Processor is an intel(R) coreTM i7 -2640M CPU @2.4GHz
I have 4GB of RAM.
3GB of memory with 1.65GB free.
I will attempt to update the videos drivers now and get back with that happens.
I used Netflix as an example but the only player that doesn't freeze the laptop up is YouTube. Netflix, putlocker, watchseries etc all have the same problem. Even download content struggles but works slightly better.
An update on potential quick fix I got from YouTube last night on overheating fell laptops is changing my laptops power management setting to only allow a maximum of 99% not 100 and this with downloaded content so far appears to be working. It threatens to freeze up (goes like a bad bad pixel cam copy and a bit black and white) but then fixes itself. I know this affects my GPU but had stopped my CPU usage from the task manger below 100% and now when idle runs at a 1-5% when before for 10-20.
Just throwing out information that may or may not help.
I appreciate all the help! |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Looking at my drivers now there at two with ! over them.
1. Unde Universal Serial Bus controllers
"Fresco logicxHCI(usb3) Root hub"
Can't be update due to error code 31.
2. My "standard VGA graphics adaptor"
It's upto date however under properties it says "this device cannot start. (Code 10).
I'm not sure what driver on the list is the video driver as apart from the graphics none of them are very obvious.
The graphics card does seem like a problem though no? |
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By *orum TrollWoman
over a year ago
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when my graphics drivers packed in i had to put a new hard drive in.
and even then the laptop still had some issues, possibly from the tapes not being connected properly but they seemed to be fine. new issues i got were the touchpad auto scrolling itself to the top of the page mainly and something else i can't remember. |
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these are your error codes in device manager
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/310123/error-codes-in-device-manager-in-windows
you could get cpuz and run it that will help to identify your graphics card that you have in your laptop
and just search for dells graphics card |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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You need to install all the drivers for your model laptop from the manufacturers site, you are missing or have the wrong system board driver, get that right aND then windows will be able to recognize the graphics processor, then it will be able to install the right driver.
Many laptops these days have an effective dual mode graphics card, 1 for ordinary use that uses less battery power and a gamers card that does better faster graphics.
This is non standard architecture so the system driver identifies it to make it all work.
You should still run a vacuum cleaner round all the holes in your case including the keyboard to get as much dust out as possible without needing small fingers as a tiny screwdriver. |
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Very likely your laptop over heat which will shut down or freeze. Then the problem will be the fan. There are applications you can install to increase the fan speed which will prevent your laptop from over heating but at the expense of a noisy laptop. Sounds like your laptop is very old 7-10 years or your laptop giving you a sign to get a new one with the increases of web apps and browser tracking analytic laptops usually need more processing power. If the laptop works fine offline and crashes online again possibly the fan.
or simply stop watching porn  those side flash videos kill your battery and such. |
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