[Sabrina]

I am unable to play videos on my computer - such as those found at YouTube etc. It loads and starts playing but continually stops and starts. It took over 3 minutes to play 31 seconds of a song.

I do have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed.

Any ideas?

[Sabrina]

Ok, I think it has something to do with my connection speed.

I need a broadband connection with 500+Kbps.

I have a broadband connection with 10Mbps.

Sorry - but I don't speak computer -- so I don't know if what I have is sufficient.

mine do the same thing its because of "buffering" it "buffers" and plays for a little bit then it buffers again and plays a bit more. if you let it do this all the way through then click on play it will play straight through the whle clip without having to "buffer" the different program loading speeds from one computer (the computer and vidio equipment the clip was made with and uploaded to, to another computer (yours).

[Sabrina]

It worked but I must say that I would have to be desperate to play something. It took 18 minutes of "buffering" to watch a 3 minute video. But at least it worked. Thanks.

You're welcome and Know the feeling. I only play the clips if I am in my relaxed and patient moods. Otherwise I get frustrated and irritated that its taking so long.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Sabrina0805 said:
Ok, I think it has something to do with my connection speed.

I need a broadband connection with 500+Kbps.

I have a broadband connection with 10Mbps.

Sorry - but I don't speak computer -- so I don't know if what I have is sufficient.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

More than sufficient.

in laymans terms, a KB is a kilobyte. a kilobyte is 1024(approximately) bytes. a MB is a Megabyte - which is 1042(approx)kilobytes. So when you see 10 MBPS it means ten(hah hah i bet you knew that 10 meant ten anyways ) Megabytes per second.

if you see 500 kbps it means - you got it - 500 kilobytes per second.

but, just because you have a 10 MBPS speed doesnt mean you can always download, or stream movies at that speed. Lots of things factor in - what else you are doing on the internet (if you are downloading something, surfing alot of pages, running lots of messengers,ect - anything internet based takes out a chunk)

Then, you need to also factor in the speed at which the website is sending you information - this is based off of what kind of speed connection the website server has. For example, lets say for simple sake that a website server has a server speed of, say, 10 MBPS. that website could handle ten people each taking information at a MBPS- again this is approx. But if you get 11 people drawing info, then it slows down.

Also factors in whether or not you have any local "bottlenecks" - what this means is that locally your internet service provider is very busy right now. Think of internet like a highway that fits(again for simplicitys sake) 10 cars zooming along side by side happily. Well, say another 20 cars get on the highway. They are going to be behind those other 10 cars and have to wait for them to go.

add another 200 - imagine the chaos!

of course most sites have MUCH higher server speeds than this example, but i hope that helps explain it.

Now, how to try and get things flowing:

-Empty out your cache of temporary internet files. On explorer, you can try going tools>internet options>delete files. make sure you are checking the box that says "delete offline files" too.

-try restarting. Sometimes this works. I cant explain why.

-make sure your not running alot of other programs at the same time, internet based or not.

-if all else fails, try calling your ISP to tell them your getting a slow connection. They have some good steps often to try

[(JD)]

Yes, you have enough speed imo. Yes, buffering will play and stop as it loads..turn the sound down or click stop on the play area and let it fully load first.

Good suggestions rainbowzz, btw. I notice that at 7pm EDST the net bogs down considerably...and loading and playing games is impossible. (I'm still on dial up.)

Another thought: if you have a virus scan running constantly THAT will make downloading a real chore too.

I know you don't use dial up, but one way I combat slower speeds is always check for the newest phone number added to the system...as the fewest number of ppl are using it... easily adds 5 kbps to my speed. (this is for dial up readers )

Let us know what your ISP offers as help.

[Sabrina]

Rainbowzz - thank you so much for explaining it in a way that I felt I actually understood for the first time ever!

Sky - I do have AVG running constantly - so that might be a factor too.

Thanks so much.

There have been a few things I have wanted to watch that I have let buffer whilst I am busy with other things. After about a half hour or so - I can usually watch it. Even if it is only a 2 or 3 minute video.

I will contact my ISP though - I think they should shed more light, even if just on principle.

[Mystry]

Lets take a stab at this too...lol...first off...what is buffering? computer memory area: a temporary storage area for data being transmitted between two devices that function at different speeds. A buffer enables a faster device such as a computer to complete sending the data and begin another task without waiting for a slower device such as a printer. So...what is happening is that the movie is downloading and playing at the same time..._Sky's suggestion would work but...one way to get by this is to find the movie you want and right click on it...find SAVE TARGET AS...and save it to your hard drive...I've tried alot of different download managers who say they can increase download speeds, but they never do...I am going to assume that you are running winxp...there are ways of increasing the speed but they involve messing with the registry...which is what I would do if I were there in person but just one mistake and your computer could be screwed...so unless you know exactly what to change and what to change it to we wont even go there...lol...I bring it up only in case your ISP people suggest you play with the registry on your computer...just tell them Lyle says no way...lol...

[Sarah116]

Check your cookies or to see if pop up blocker is on, it may also be due to if you have a router and modem for several internet connections. I had that problem.