/ Malfunctioning Multimedia Playback

Malfunctioning Multimedia Playback

In my laptop (Dell Inspiron 9300 Windows XP), any media (including YOU TUBE videos, etc) does not run smoothly. It has breaks in both audio and video. Each time I reinstall Windows, it gets fixed and at the very next restart the problem comes back. Can you help me fix this? Susan Keenan

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Causes

Malfunctioning multimedia playback seems to be a problem that crops up for quite a few computer users. The problem can be related to your Internet connection, the time of day or night, your video card, and more. It becomes a matter of troubleshooting the problem in order to resolve it and get it to go away.

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Internet Service

Unfortunately, if you have dial up Internet service, then you are going to have to put up with choppy videos. There’s no way around it. Dial up service is exceedingly slow. If you upgrade your service to high speed cable, then you should have better playback quality. Additionally, another strategy that you can try is to watch the videos during off-peak hours since video streaming will be better at that time. Another option you have is to download the video and then watch it at a later time.

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Temporary Cache and Memory

Clear out the temporary Internet cache for your browser. In addition to taking up resources, these saved bits of data might be interfering with your connections. Go through the “Tools” option of your browser to locate the proper section to do this.

One of the reasons that a fresh install of your Windows OS might make the problem disappear temporarily is that you are starting with fresh resources. Are you sure that you have sufficient free memory on the computer? Try adding some new memory to see if that helps the problem.

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Adobe Flash

Are you sure that you have the proper version of Adobe Flash Player? Visit their website and compare their current version with the one that you have. This is really important for viewing videos, so try and keep up-to-date with this particular software application from now on. If you have an outdated version, it will create problems such as the one that you are describing.

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Video Card

Use the “Device Manager” to check out your video card and make sure that it is functioning properly. If your video card is damaged, it could lead to problems viewing videos. Another thought is that the drivers for the card might need updating. To access the “Device Manager,” follow this path:

1) Click on “Start.”

2) Click the “Control Panel.”

3) Click on “Performance and Maintenance.”

4) Click on the option for “System.”

5) Click on “Hardware.”

6) Click “Device Manager” to open it.

Multimedia Error with Choppy Video: Update the Browser

Choppy videos can also occur if your browser is out of date. In fact, video playback suffers terribly when both your browser and Adobe Flash Player are out of date.