Videos now freeze every 1-2 mins on my computer

[Utoo]

My wife and I finally finished the first two seasons of Lost, so we downloaded a few of the current season's episodes to catch up. Lo and behold, the videos are freezing every 1 to 2 minutes! They freeze whether I watch them on iTunes or if I watch them online through abc.com. What's worse---now sites like youtube are freezing for me, and videos that I've had on my computer for over a year are now freezing. For some reason, my computer can't handle video any more. I don't get it!

Sure, my Dell Inspiron 5150 is now about 3-4 years old. But I don't understand why the abrupt change from being video-capable to just sucking, even on videos that I'd previously been able to watch. I have 4.5 GB left free on my 60GB hard drive. The RAM is 512...never had a problem with it before. I've updated my Norton Internet Security and scanned with it and apparently have no viruses, etc. (yes, Norton is my next change once it expires in two weeks...I'm taking suggestions...). And I've even deleted the most recent things that I've downloaded---notably, Nero trial version & Exact Audio Copy.

Does anyone have any guesses?

 

[Utoo]

One thing I might try is free up a bit more space and then defragment. Honestly, I've never defragged, so that could be a big factor....

 

[LMP]

One thing I might try is free up a bit more space and then defragment. Honestly, I've never defragged, so that could be a big factor....

defrag

my videos freeze on iTunes regardless, but are good on the iPod.

 

[Liesje]

Hmmm, I've never seen video just freeze, but I have seen it skip, or the video stops and audio keeps going, or the color is messed up, etc. Things I usually try:

- Think of ANY new installs or system updates that were installed and roll back the system with System Restore if one of them may have caused it (I did this the other day b/c a new software did something to a video codec)

- Make sure you're not missing a video codec it needs

- Check for updated drivers for your video card

- Check for new firmware if the videos are being played from an optical drive

- Watch the processes in the Task Manager while a vid is playing and see if anything is hogging the memory

- Use a bootable diagnostic disc to test the hardware (for example, at support.dell.com you can enter any Dell model and download the diagnostic utility)

 

[Utoo]

but I have seen it skip, or the video stops and audio keeps going,

Yeah, it doesn't 'freeze'--it's doing just what you described.

The defrag finished late last night. I'm at work today, so I can't check it until tomorrow. If that didn't fix anything, these are going to be my next steps, with the rest to follow if they don't help:

- Make sure you're not missing a video codec it needs

- Check for updated drivers for your video card

- Check for new firmware if the videos are being played from an optical drive

- Watch the processes in the Task Manager while a vid is playing and see if anything is hogging the memory

- Use a bootable diagnostic disc to test the hardware (for example, at support.dell.com you can enter any Dell model and download the diagnostic utility)

 

[The OOTS]

clean the dust out of it.

 

[Utoo]

The defragging actually helped a little bit, but I'm still getting some freezing.

Lies, how would I go about doing these next?

- Make sure you're not missing a video codec it needs

- Check for updated drivers for your video card

Thanks for the help, folks!

 

[Liesje]

Codec - usually when my vids are messed up, Windows Media Player tells me something like "you need a codec, click here" and then I click and see what I need, then go to the other site and download it. Now I'm not a video person, but I know it can depend on what type of file, and even then there are different types of the same kinds of files.... I brought up the codec thing because in order to play certain avi's, WMP told me to download a codec. I did, and they started to work. Then I installed a new program and it gave me some pop-up about one codec not being supported, so I said "ok ignore it". Then those avi's got stuck, just like yours. I ended up doing a System Restore to before I installed the new program so it put that codec back in business.

To check for new drivers or firmware, go to support.dell.com then click Downloads and Drivers. Look on the bottom of your compy and there is a Service Tag (like 7 numbers/letters). Enter it in and it will give you a list of things you can download. You could also check the site for whatever program you use to play them and see if there are new updates.