Teenager + My Space.Com + Packard Bell With 384 MB RAM 3

[AussieSean]

G'day,

My son is using my backuo computer, a Packard Bell with a Pentiumn II, 384 RAM to setup a Profile on My Space .Com as Millions of children are, he got it all loaded, backgrond and all that good stuff, so he uploaded some Music Videos that My Space and You Tube.Com allow you to Embedd in your profile, they uploaded fine, and at first you think all is well, but when you click on the Start ther Video Button, the Video/Music Starts, then it plays intermintently, as if like an old record played you put your finger on it while it was spinning it slows down and may stop, then start again. Is 384 MB of RAM enough, or id there something I need, short of buying a new computer for him that I can do to remedy this problem? Thank you

 

[ttterk]

I suspect that connection speed may be the real problem here. If you're on dial-up, that would be the problem. If not, I'd probably check the connection speed to see if perhaps MySpace is running a bit slowly sometimes.

Sloth is the mother of invention. Necessity is just a mother...

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

All of his friends are not having this prohlem, and their videos are playing fine, they load, but when you hit play they play intermintentely ...... we have the fastest DSK Speed Sprint Has to offer, I feel bad because he worked so hard building such a beautiful profile/background, now he can't play his music videos. I hope some mate has a clue of what can be causing this. I am a disablebed combat veteran and unable to buy him a new computer, so my only hope for him is that someone here on Tek_tips will have a solution.

 

[smah]

The first question to clarify where the problem lies is: Do his music videos behave this way when others view them with different computers & different internet connections?

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

Tried switching, only on his computer this happens

 

[smah]

Start by turning off any programs that start automatically, but aren't really needed. Also run through several antivirus & antispyware scans - you can find several reccommendations in the FAQ's.

 

[jimp56]

384mb should be enough ram. my feeling is its the processor (Pentium II) that might be "choking" during the playback.

If you already havent, download and install the latest DirectX software. This helps video/multimedia performance. And, as always, see if the video card in the system has any updated device drivers available (do this before installing DirectX).

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.mspx

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

The latest Direct x has been installed, not being close to an expert, but if it was the processor, wouldn't I have the same problem with Windows Media Player, Real Player, and DIVX? They all work perfect, it's just the audio on the Adobe Flash 9 ...... Adobe says it's not their problem, I just can't buy a computer on a disabled vetersns pay. Thank you

 

[jimp56]

Sorry, I misunderstood the post. I assumed it was the video that was slowing down, not the audio portion. In that case, the processor is unlikely to have anything to do with it.

Your computer meets the minimum specs for the flash player, so I cant think of any obvious issues - except that there may be an add-in problem with internet explorer. I would try disabling/uninstalling any search bars (google, etc)and plugins to see if it makes any difference whatsoever.

one more simple thing to try would be to install another browser, like firefox (which is flash-compatible) to see if it acts the same on the other browser. this would narrow down the issue to IE or the flash player itself.

good luck, mate

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

Tried it on the latest version of FireFox, no plugins, same problem, uninstalled flash player and reinstalled latest version, 9.0, same problem, Adobe says it is in no way their player, I updated the sound card Drivers, when you say it might be IE, can that browser be removed, I have never had any serach bars installed either, I may bloody well lose my hair over this.

Sean

 

[jimp56]

Sean, Im sorry I couldnt be more help, but theres obviously some sort of problem with the flash player on that particular system. Its not possible to remove IE, but if the same problem occurs on Firefox, removing IE probably wouldnt help anyway.

Youve done more than due diligence in trying to get this problem resolved. I unfortunately dont feel more RAM will help here, but it just might. But thats a lot of trouble to go through to find out.

its unfortunate that myspace requires the flash player for those videos. if there were some other way of putting the videos up there, say in windows media format, perhaps - you could sidestep the whole issue? I would oursue that route first before hammering on the PC anymore.

maybe someone else with specific flash experience can help out here, but without being able to "play" with the system myself for awhile, I dont see many other things to try. They would most likely only increase your frustration.

I hope you get it sorted.

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

Words can't express how I feel for all the help from you, and all the others, being a disabled combat veteran on a fixed income makes funds critical, and it just breaks my heart I can't get this going for him, or get him an upgraded used computer, or a new one. Thanks again mate.

Cheers

Sean

"De Oppresso Liber"

"Who Dares Wins" Aussie Special Forces Motto

 

[jimp56]

Sean-
I dug a little further into this player, and came up with another potential solution:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/help02.html

In short, this setting increases the amount of disk space the player is allowed to use. Therefore, if you increase the storage settings to 10MB(or unlimited) instead of the default, it might buffer enough of the video/audio to avoid the skipping.

basically you open a browser, load a flash image (do that here:

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/

) then right-click the image, choose "settings" and then click the folder icon/tab. you can then adjust the settings as shown in the first link above.

give that a try, as its pretty easy, and might (hopefully) help playback.

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

I found the settings, adjusted them to maximum, no improvement mate ....... I reckon it's time to cry defeat and thank all you wonderful mates that have been trying to help me, I pray none of you are disabled Combat Veterans( or disabled) in any manner, for what ever reason, but after working all your life, giving your all to your counbtry, then get stuck on a fixed income, it's time to face the facts, there are limits on what you can do with a fixed income, and by the time you pay all the household expenses and but medications, a decent computer is so far down on the list I will probably never see one in my life time ....... but knowing all my new mates here at Tek-Tips, made me feel important enough just to know that you tried your best to solve this. One last question if I may, at one time we had 2 computers connected to a small wired Router, now there is just this one computer, and it is still going through the router and the DSL Modem, could that be affecting the performance of the one computer, and would I be better off mate by removing this computer from the router, and only use the DSL MOdem? A Mite off topic, but it was floating in my bloody head, so I decided to ask. I wish I could thank eacj and everyone of you blokes in person, and shake your hands, but I am afraid you will have to settle for my thanks, a smile and a prayer, and my word to make a donation to this Wonderful Forum come Disability Payday.

Cheers mates,

Sean

"De Oppresso Liber

 

[jimp56]

OK, Sorry it didnt work. Figured it was worth one last shot!

To answer your question about the router, No - I would not move it directly to the DSL modem, because the router is giving you a hardware firewall protection from the internet. If you connect directly to the modem, you are "wide open" to attacks, hacking, etc. So I would leave well enough alone.

You -can- connect the pc directly to the modem briefly just to test if the speed seems better for that video. If it does do better (unlikely) - then perhaps a new router might be in order.

on another note, I can appreciate your situation, as my father recently retired and had to face the humbling, albeit unfair, task of living on a fixed income with little or no savings. Just do your best and try not to let it get you down - he's making it work the best he can, and tries to maintain a positive attitude.

I hope we can help you fix something quicker and easier next time. Welcome to the forum!

I wish you the best, mate - and your welcome for the (limited) help!
-Jim

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

One more questionn mate.

Compared to what he is using, would a HP Pavilion 6330 Desktop PC have a better/faster processor than the Packard bell with the Pentiumn II and Windows 98 OS, and the HP has Windows Melliliumn (know that is spelled wrong) would there be much of an improbement?

Cheers Mates

 

[jimp56]

Hi-
From what I can tell, the system you mentioned would only be a "lateral transfer" - in other words, it probably would not be that much faster then the one you have now - its still in the same class as the Pentium II:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543_554~899,00.html

Not to mention, Windows ME is known in general as a very problematic and "buggy" operating system.

With all that being said, if your getting a "sweet deal" on it, it couldnt hurt to try!

 

[AussieSean]

G'day,

Case closed, thanks you.

Cheers