Ace said:

Genesia said:

Get a Mac. You're welcome.

Macs have NEVER taken off for a reason

that's why Apple moved to other sectors other than computers

7 home premium? Ditch that shit and upgrade to W10.

TheDigitalGardener said:

7 home premium? Ditch that shit and upgrade to W10.

Not until I settle on a replacement for Windows Media Center (I use the DVR feature).

Ace said:

Have, of course, been googling and trying certain things, but no fix yet. Windows 7 Home Premium.

Some symptoms:

- reduced speed

- some graphics look slightly less slick (e.g. fonts more pixelated)

- Flash video halting and/or dropping frames

Any help would be MOST appreciated!

hey Ace,

Do the 3 things you've stated happen whenever you use your computer or in specific situations? Such as... watching video, recording, streaming, or searching the web? We need to view the specs, the make and model of you notebook.

We need the brand, model name, and model number (very important) of your computer. The issues you've list could be cause by a multitude of things, such as...

• Driver issues: BIOS and/or Video Card,
• Adobe software (third party software) ... something simple as uninstall / reinstall
• You may be pushing your CPU and/or RAM to its limits
• Hard Drive Fragmentation
• Multi-tasking
  
• heat /overheating
• program settings
• anti sofware / background software.
• the age of your computers HDD?

just to name a few...

You can check something now...

Your Win 7 computer should be set on ULTRA DMA or DMA.

Check: ight-click on My Computer > Properties > Hardware > DeviceManager > IDE > Primary IDE channel > Advanced Settings > Current Transfer Mode

=========================

[Edited 8/19/15 4:52am]

Oops one more thing.

The free version of this software, Speccy... will give all the info you need on your computers hardware and temp.

some laptops DO become damaged, or their performances takes a u-turn without the proper cooling

Ace said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

7 home premium? Ditch that shit and upgrade to W10.

Not until I settle on a replacement for Windows Media Center (I use the DVR feature).

You always purchase another Win 7 compuer for safe keeping; spyware Win 10 will be here forever. My kids a Linux / Win user and like you she uses WMC dvr feature also. Using WMC pull a lot of resources from CPU and RAM... I'd take the oppurtunity to purchase a computer that could handle the job, in the future.

Bang for you for your buck: Windows 7 Pro HP Envy 15t notebook.

• 5th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U Dual Core Processor + Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500
• 12GB DDR3L - 2 DIMM
  
• 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD WLED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
• 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 3-cell 55.5WHr Lithium-ion Battery
• SuperMulti DVD burner
• Backlit Keyboard
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) [1x1]
• 
  

total, without tax: 849.99u

bold: upgrades

I'd recommend upgrading the i7 Core + stand alone graphics 2gb card... I think its 50 bucks more.

JoeTyler said:

Ace said:

Macs have NEVER taken off for a reason

that's why Apple moved to other sectors other than computers

Tell us more father...

JoeTyler said:

Ace said:

Macs have NEVER taken off for a reason

that's why Apple moved to other sectors other than computers

The reason?

Price...not quality.

^oh, the perpetual MAC IS TOTAL QUALITY myth

Macs are beasts, yes, (mostly oriented to professionals) but that doesn't mean a 1500$ HP-Dell computer with top features-top cooling is not as good (or at least just as reliable) as a Mac (and compatible with ANY non-Apple software out there); my 900$ HP Laptop (bought in 2013) has NEVER let me down so far...

the whole "Just get a Mac" thing is a dated joke at this point

[Edited 8/19/15 14:54pm]

Apple, Linux and Microsoft all have their pros and cons. I always ask people, how do you use a computer? Then you look at your options and choose accordingly.

I use all 3 OS. Microsoft didn't always make a piss poor product. (IMHO) But with dominance comes arrogance, at some point Microsoft decided they could put out shitty software and have geeks and Microsoft Inc. patch it along the way.

I purchased a Macbook Pro and HP Envy (Beats by Dre') in months of each other late, 2011. Four years later the Macbook Por is humming along (with a couple of upgrades, RAM and SDD) not an issue no a beachball twirl, nada. The HP Envy? HP gave me another notebook of my choosing and configuration. Why, well they couldn't pin it down.. either a Windows update brick my computer or a third party (Intel) driver bricked my computer. Blue screens of death on a computer that never surfed the web and was hardly used. I can' tell how many times I had to get a Fixit patch from Windows for my Vista desktop...now I can't connect via WiFi, but when I snap in my Linux HDD Wi-Fi works. Oh, MIcrosoft had a Fix-it patch for that too but ti didn't work. HP hardware has done well by me, Windows software is a pain in the ass. Did I mention, Apple has excellent customer service.

Just wanted to say thank you all so much for your suggestions so far! Latest findings:

When I do a system restore, for some reason I can't open Chrome.

The picture quality of Windows Media Center has been affected, too. I'm also getting this error message:

"The ordinal 797 could not be located in the dynamic link library iertutil.dll."

I should clarify that the WMC picture degradation happened before the attempted restores and that I don't think this error message is in relation to WMC.

When I undo the restores, I can open Chrome again.

Ace, uninstall your anti-virus software and attempt system restore again. Pick another date (further back) than the previous one, if it's possible. I'd advise you to call your computer maker and request CD recovery CD's, to have on hand.

System restore for example, can't repair a corrupt or dieing HDD. I'd take a systematic approach...

After you uninstall anti-virus, try with chkdsk /r command in command prompt-> attempt system restore.

================================

[Edited 8/19/15 21:30pm]

JoeTyler said:

^oh, the perpetual MAC IS TOTAL QUALITY myth

Macs are beasts, yes, (mostly oriented to professionals) but that doesn't mean a 1500$ HP-Dell computer with top features-top cooling is not as good (or at least just as reliable) as a Mac (and compatible with ANY non-Apple software out there); my 900$ HP Laptop (bought in 2013) has NEVER let me down so far...

the whole "Just get a Mac" thing is a dated joke at this point

[Edited 8/19/15 14:54pm]

Sorry.....I've been using both for over 20 years, and in my opinion the PC simly can't compete.

Graycap23 said:

JoeTyler said:

^oh, the perpetual MAC IS TOTAL QUALITY myth

Macs are beasts, yes, (mostly oriented to professionals) but that doesn't mean a 1500$ HP-Dell computer with top features-top cooling is not as good (or at least just as reliable) as a Mac (and compatible with ANY non-Apple software out there); my 900$ HP Laptop (bought in 2013) has NEVER let me down so far...

the whole "Just get a Mac" thing is a dated joke at this point

[Edited 8/19/15 14:54pm]

Sorry.....I've been using both for over 20 years, and in my opinion the PC simly can't compete.

for professionals? sure; but a GOOD PC still gets the job done

Ace said:

When I do a system restore, for some reason I can't open Chrome.

Ace, once again - please try linux. You can use a live CD which will run FROM THE CD/DVD, ie. you take it out and you're back to Windoze.... so what's the problem?

By the way, Chrome, I have read, donno whether it's true or not, reports every URL you go to back to Google, so - you'd be well advised not to use it.... please switch to Firefox.

JoeTyler said:

Graycap23 said:

Sorry.....I've been using both for over 20 years, and in my opinion the PC simly can't compete.

for professionals? sure; but a GOOD PC still gets the job done

My wife was the virus queen from PC hell. At least one a month, she has some nonsense on her P.C.

Finally, about 6 years ago, I got tired of dealing with it so I gave her one of Mac Pros.

Guess what, she hasn't had a single problem since and she is still using the same Mac Pro that I gave her 6 years ago. I haven't have 2 touch the Mac she she got it.

Graycap23 said:

JoeTyler said:

for professionals? sure; but a GOOD PC still gets the job done

My wife was the virus queen from PC hell. At least one a month, she has some nonsense on her P.C.

Finally, about 6 years ago, I got tired of dealing with it so I gave her one of Mac Pros.

Guess what, she hasn't had a single problem since and she is still using the same Mac Pro that I gave her 6 years ago. I haven't have 2 touch the Mac she she got it.

viruses are found in porn and illegal downloads; HEY! I'm not accusing your wife, just sayin'

[Edited 8/20/15 7:55am]

JoeTyler said:

Graycap23 said:

My wife was the virus queen from PC hell. At least one a month, she has some nonsense on her P.C.

Finally, about 6 years ago, I got tired of dealing with it so I gave her one of Mac Pros.

Guess what, she hasn't had a single problem since and she is still using the same Mac Pro that I gave her 6 years ago. I haven't have 2 touch the Mac she she got it.

viruses are found in porn and illegal downloads; HEY! I'm not accusing your wife, just sayin'

[Edited 8/20/15 7:55am]

Lol...............where ever they come from, it is no longer an issue.

The choppy video problem seems to be specific to Chrome. Interestingly, disabling the Flash Player plug-in seems to resolve the issue (for non-Flash vid, of course).

Ace said:

The choppy video problem seems to be specific to Chrome. Interestingly, disabling the Flash Player plug-in seems to resolve the issue (for non-Flash vid, of course).

hmmm.

Open up Google Chrome and in the address bar type, chrome://plugins/

Look in "Flash" for a lin/text... \pepflashplayer.dll

Click the Disable link...

Restart your computer, see if that works.

TD3 said:

Ace said:

The choppy video problem seems to be specific to Chrome. Interestingly, disabling the Flash Player plug-in seems to resolve the issue (for non-Flash vid, of course).

hmmm.

Open up Google Chrome and in the address bar type, chrome://plugins/

Look in "Flash" for a lin/text... \pepflashplayer.dll

Click the Disable link...

Restart your computer, see if that works.

Thanks, TD3! That's actually what I did (although there seems to be no way of disabling just pepflashplayer without disabling all of Flash).

Ace said:

TD3 said:

hmmm.

Open up Google Chrome and in the address bar type, chrome://plugins/

Look in "Flash" for a lin/text... \pepflashplayer.dll

Click the Disable link...

Restart your computer, see if that works.

Thanks, TD3! That's actually what I did (although there seems to be no way of disabling just pepflashplayer without disabling all of Flash).

It been a mintue since I've used Chrome... I don't use Adobe flash anymore.

Is it possible to right click on a video itself and unclick box for hardware acceleration?

TD3 said:

Ace said:

Thanks, TD3! That's actually what I did (although there seems to be no way of disabling just pepflashplayer without disabling all of Flash).

It been a mintue since I've used Chrome... I don't use Adobe flash anymore.

Is it possible to right click on a video itself and unclick box for hardware acceleration?

Tried that. Didn't do the trick. But thank you so much, again, for trying to help me with this!

Ace said:

TD3 said:

It been a mintue since I've used Chrome... I don't use Adobe flash anymore.

Is it possible to right click on a video itself and unclick box for hardware acceleration?

Tried that. Didn't do the trick. But thank you so much, again, for trying to help me with this!

Let me run up to my Windows 7 computer and see somthing... I'll be back ASAP.

TD3 said:

Ace said:

Tried that. Didn't do the trick. But thank you so much, again, for trying to help me with this!

Let me run up to my Windows 7 computer and see somthing... I'll be back ASAP.

Wow, thanks so much! You're the best!

Ace said:

TD3 said:

Let me run up to my Windows 7 computer and see somthing... I'll be back ASAP.

Wow, thanks so much! You're the best!

no problem.

Start > search> type in Device Manager..

scroll down to ... IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary IDE Channel (right click)

1st. click on update drivers button and see what is says. If need be it will either update or state all drivers are up-to-date.

2nd. click on the second option, uninstall driver...a restart prompt should pop up. Reboot.

You may see another box (delete driver) when you uninstall IDE driver. Check to make sue that box doesn't have a check... we aren't deleting the driver we are just uninstalling it, you'll see it again after the reboot.

Same thing Device Manager.... "IDE....... Controllers".

Check your Media Player / Video

Under "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers", the only things listed are:

ATA Channel 0

ATA Channel 1

ATA Channel 4

ATA Channel 5

Standard AHCI1.0 Serial ATA Controller

Ace said:

Under "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers", the only things listed are:

ATA Channel 0

ATA Channel 1

ATA Channel 4

ATA Channel 5

Standard AHCI1.0 Serial ATA Controller

That's what it should look like.... this is the other option. I haven't use the piece of software since Vista -Hell. Its called

DPC Latency Checker - links of some videos below to give you a better understandig of what this piece of software checks. Nothing complicated or hard. Though I wished the one guy would've talked his way through using DPC software than play fucking music in the background. I hope you have another computer to watch this on.

https://www.youtube.com/w...n6sZEGptiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss1Kaf2fFXU

Here's a PDF, clear and bigger print on what this sofware does and what it checks for. We need to see what not working or interfering... causing your video and/or sound to lag. This should work but if it doesn't,, on to plan E. Just read the PDF and look at the videos until you have understand and/or are comfortable. 1st we just want the software to analyis your computer... see what info comes back in the DPS box.

PDF file

p.s. Let me be a bit more precise DPC software, may indicate drop-outs, it's well explained on how you could find the devices that are messing up your DPC Latency.

=====================================

[Edited 8/23/15 11:24am]