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why can I not watch a video all the way thru without it stopping and starting, & freezing?

  • 9 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Carolee

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I like to go to abc or cbs pbs etc. and watch their videos but they do not run all the way thru. They stop and start and stop and start and freeze and start and quit.

I like to go to abc or cbs pbs etc. and watch their videos but they do not run all the way thru. They stop and start and stop and start and freeze and start and quit.

All Replies (9)

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You said:-

"I received a message on my email page that said my browers is out dated I should download this new one but it takes over 5hrs!!!"

Five hours is extraordinary by any standard [1]. I'd suggest that you start by having a word with your ISP (Internet Service Provider). It could well be that your service is simply too slow to stream video reliably. Or, there may be a fault with the service or the equipment you use. The point is that there is nothing Firefox can do to mitigate a slow/unreliable network.

That said, there are other possibilities but determining the efficacy of your Internet connection is the best place to start. Here is an easy-to-use website which will help you carry out a basic speed test:

http://www.speedtest.net/

Feel free to post back with the figures.

[1] Just to give you an idea, if you were using old-school 'dial-up' technology, a new version of Firefox should take about half an hour to download at most. And, even then, dial-up technology is nowhere near good enough for experiencing the modern web.

Modified by kerframil

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the speed test was: download speed 1.39mbps

                   download speed 1.35mbps
                   ping             32ms

then there was a test they ran that said my computer really needs to be cleaned but there was a cost. I do not understand what it was all about but the total was over 500.

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I do not understand how to opperate on this page. You say there is a response to my questions but you do not tell me how to get to the response. I do not click on reply, what do I do to see these reply's? Carolee

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The reply notification was probably due to the posting of your two comments above.

Anyway, 1.35Mbps is perfectly acceptable for casual web surfing but not overly impressive if you want to enjoy an all-singing, all-dancing multimedia enabled web without occasionally twiddling your thumbs - at least, as far as video streaming is concerned.

Firefox doesn't really come into this but I'm going to give you some advice ...

Firstly, ask your ISP if it is possible to upgrade the service so that you have more bandwidth. If the answer is no, then shop around and see if there are any competing services in your country/area that can.

Secondly, for any number of technical reasons that are beyond the scope of this forum, your network connection may be unreliable or congested. In other words, you may not actually be enjoying the level of bandwidth you measured at speedtest.net consistently. To evaluate these possibilities, I would highly recommend that you find somebody qualified to visit and take a look at your PC and your modem/router. If you don't know a friendly neighbourhood geek, ask your friends and family or perhaps ask the IT guy where you work if he/she can recommend someone (if applicable). Failing all of that, you could employ the services of a company such as Geek Squad. Disclaimer: I am in no way afiliated with Geek Squad nor can I comment on the quality of their services; I mention them only as a notable example of a company providing the kind of service you might benefit from.

Modified by kerframil

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If there are problems with updating then best is to download the full version and uninstall the currently installed version.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

  • Uninstall your current Firefox version.
  • Do not remove personal data when you uninstall the current version.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • It is important to delete the Firefox program folder to remove all the files and make sure that there are no problems with files that were leftover after uninstalling.

Your bookmarks and other profile data are stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder and won't be affected by a reinstall, but make sure that you do not select to remove personal data if you uninstall Firefox.


It is possible that there is a problem with the files sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.

Delete the files sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.

If you see files sessionstore-##.js with a number in the left part of the name like sessionstore-1.js then delete those as well. Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups to get lost, so you will have to create them again (make a note).

See:


Some have reported that increasing the session store saving interval worked for them.
See:

To open the about:config page, type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the url of a website to open a website.
If you see a warning then you can confirm that you want to access that page.
You can use the Filter bar at to top of the about:config page to locate a pref more easily.

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thank you for your help. I will try this but you may not of seen my message that said I am a beginer and do not know very much about computers!!! I am learning and am greatfull for all the help. I am wondering if Yahoo is not messing with me since I do not want to up grade to their new classic mail system. I never had a problem loging into my mail page before and now (and never before) I have to log in my full email address every time. the email address show only my name and will not show the rest of my email address. Strange. Carolee

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thank you for all your help but your help is more for the experienced and I am very new at all of this.

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Thank you, what is my PC? Wow all you guys are so knowledgeable! I ran a whole computer scan this morning and I thought that would help but it is moving so extremely slow I can not believe it. What could I have done to cause this? It is almost impossible to see my mail! What makes a computer-lap top (Acer)suddenly move sooooo slow!!! Carolee

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thank you, I will try this. Carolee