ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: We just got a brand new laptop. Due to vision requirements, we also got a large monitor. Everything is hooked up and works BUT–when we go to view videos (not streaming) that are imbedded in a website, they will play for a short period and then freeze. The whole thing freezes so you have to close down the window and reopen. The same videos play fine on another laptop and another desktop. I’ve gone on-line for fixes and tried most everything. Nothing seems to change the freezing. HELP!

 – Margaret S.
Crestview, Florida

A:  Since you describe the system as brand new, I can’t help but wonder if the best course of action is to take advantage of the system’s warranty, and make this the vendor’s problem, rather than trying to deal with it yourself.  Nevertheless, I’ll do what I can to help.

The problem with this problem is that there is no specific problem, just the rather vague symptom of videos locking up.  Unfortunately, you didn’t specify which videos and websites you’re having the problem with.  You mentioned “not streaming” and I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you know the difference between streaming video sites such as YouTube or Vimeo, and embedded videos such as those accompanying news articles. In my experience, it’s far more common to have problems with streaming content than with embedded content, which makes your issue even more challenging.

There are an awful lot of steps that go into getting video content from a website to playing on your screen, and it’s very difficult to determine exactly the source of an issue such as you’re describing.  The problem could be with the website itself.  It’s possible that the video file is corrupt on their side.  The problem could also be with your Internet Service Provider, or the speed of your Internet connection.  Again, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not trying to watch lengthy, hi-res video on a relatively slow connection.

Since you say the videos play just fine from other computers, that would seem to localize the problem in your case to the new laptop.  You didn’t mention which browser you are using to access the videos, but certain versions of some browsers (most notably, Microsoft Edge) have been known to be problematic.  I suggest you try again with another browser like Google Chrome. 

The only other thing that I can think of that could cause such a problem is a wrong, or outdated graphics driver.  It might sound odd for this to be a condition in a “brand new” laptop, but that system might have been sitting in its box for a year or more waiting for you to purchase it.  Chances are, when you first configured the system, it performed a bunch of updates.  There’s no guarantee that those updates included the driver, and even if they did, that the correct driver was installed.

I suggest visiting the Product Support link on the manufacturer’s website, where you’ll be able to view a page that’s dedicated to your specific model.  You know how I’m always encouraging people to have the latest support software on their system – well this page contains all of the latest downloads that are available for your laptop.  Make sure your system is fully up-to-date.  When you’re done on the vendor website, go to your PC’s Windows Start menu and click Setup (the gear icon) then click Update & Security.  Click the button labeled Check for updates and make sure Windows has all the available updates installed.  I’m banking that between switching browsers and updating your system, it’ll be properly playing videos in no time.