Computer freezes while playing videos

[chi2468]

Hi. Does anyone have any idea why my computer freezes when I play videos. The video will start and play for about a minute then the the computer will freeze. I have to hit the reset button to get it started again. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chi2468

 

[aford10]

Check the event viewer to see if it's logging errors.
start-->run-->eventvwr.msc-->check the application and system logs for errors (red X's).

Update your video driver.

Check your temps.

 

[soundguruman]

Hi. Does anyone have any idea why my computer freezes when I play videos. The video will start and play for about a minute then the the computer will freeze. I have to hit the reset button to get it started again. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chi2468

There are two causes
One is that you are using a single core processor, and you don't have enough space to play videos without the system freezing.
Too many applications are running without enough space to run them. When the processor reaches 100%, the video freezes. There is no cure for this other than to abandon the obsolete system and buy a quad core, or other similar up to date system.
Sometimes, if you reduce the video screen size to less than 50%, the video will play. But if you play the video full screen, it will freeze.
Another is that your internet provider is not providing enough bandwidth to download a stream without freezing. This is really common.
In any case reloading video drivers does nothing to cure this problem.

 

[aford10]

There are two causes
One is that you are using a single core processor, and you don't have enough space to play videos without the system freezing.
Too many applications are running without enough space to run them. When the processor reaches 100%, the video freezes. There is no cure for this other than to abandon the obsolete system and buy a quad core, or other similar up to date system.
Sometimes, if you reduce the video screen size to less than 50%, the video will play. But if you play the video full screen, it will freeze.
Another is that your internet provider is not providing enough bandwidth to download a stream without freezing. This is really common.
In any case reloading video drivers does nothing to cure this problem.

You don't even know if it's locally stored or streaming. If it's streaming video, it's not going to be a storage space problem. And a new CPU doesn't provide 'space'. People don't need to upgrade to a quad core CPU to play videos.

And yes, video drivers are a common cause for a PC to freeze when playing videos. That's what enables the video card to process the data and output the display.

 

[soundguruman]

The most common cause is that the CPU is overloaded, hits 100% and the video freezes.
Yes, to get any kind of decent video playback quality, you will need to abandon the single core processor. It's obsolete.
You can upgrade a processor, add more memory, "clean" the computer with free downloads, load drivers, or goof around all you want, the video will still freeze, its reality. You can even install a new video card, but it won't do squat.
If you play the video less than full screen, the processor MIGHT have enough space to play a video, but you are reaching. The bigger the playback screen, the more processor space is used and the closer you come to 100% freeze state.
If you eliminate as many applications as possible, (like AOL, Chrome, etc...) you might free up enough processor space to play a video (maybe). But almost nobody is willing to erase junk programs, and therefore will have no processor space left to play a video.
And almost nobody is willing to face up to the fact that single core processors don't have enough cache space to play a video, while running a windows operating system. But the problem is never solved until you face up to the reality.

 

[aford10]

A browser being installed, but not used, isn't going to have any impact on the CPU usage, or it's cache space. It'll take up some hard drive space, and that's it. Once it's loaded, it'll be loaded into the RAM anyway.

Besides, when resources are maxed out, it will just take longer to buffer the video. It won't cause the computer to completely freeze up, and need to be hard restarted. This is a different issue entirely.

You're making assumptions about the OP's software and hardware.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey