IE 11 problem viewing specific videos

I have a really strange problem viewing some videos on my laptop. Most videos come up just fine but on a few websites they won't come up matter what I do. I have the latest version of flash player installed as well as Java and directX. I have no idea what I need to get the videos to work on the websites that they don't work on. One of them that I have the problem consistently on its is one: http://www.ijreview.com/2015/06/347845-texas-just-suckerpunched-michelles-school-lunch-rules-bringing-back-one-students-favorite-food/?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=morning-newsletter&utm_medium=owned although there are also many others. I've even tried doing a reinstall of the operating system (Windows 7x64 Pro SP1) and it didn't make any difference.

I've also uninstalled and reinstalled flashplayer, shockwave and Java all with no effect on the problem. The video for this website plays on both Chrome and Firefox which leads me to believe it's a direct X problem but...


System specs are shown in the attached Speccy screen capture.


Any ideas are appreciated!

Msradell said:

The video for this website plays on both Chrome and Firefox which leads me to believe it's a direct X problem but...

I think that it is an HTML5 problem. Uninstall Flash for IE and try to play the video again via IE.

I would suggest that you not install Flash for IE or non-IE browsers (e.g. Firefox). If you must see a video that requires Flash, temporarily use Chrome. This should offer you some protection from infected flash adverts.

Also, uninstall shockwave and Java. See if you ever miss them.

Assuming it is a HTML 5 problem how do you repair that? Removing all flash players is not a solution to the problem, it is a workaround. I'm looking for a solution to my problem. As I said it doesn't only affect the video I posted but also affects some others. For various reasons I do not like Chrome as my primary browser and I don't want to have to revert to it just to watch a video. There has to be a solution to this problem and I'm willing to try options to repair it, cannot circumvent it.

I'm sorry that I was not clear. I'm not suggesting that you use Chrome as your primary browser. I was suggesting just the opposite: Only use Chrome for brief periods of time (when you want to see one particular video that won't play within IE or Firefox).

I was not suggesting removing all Flash players. Keep Chrome's built in Flash. By default, Chrome will automatically and silently update itself and its version of Flash. This makes using Chrome/Flash safer than Flash add-ons for IE or non-IE browsers since users tend to lag behind on their Flash add-on updates.

Just because you have the most recent version of Flash does not mean that all known Flash exploits are fixed.


I used IE11 (without Flash) to play the video in your link. I did that before I posted to your thread. That is what made me guess that it is an HTML5 issue (but I could be wrong). It is impractical to "repair" an HTML5 problem. It is an issue of a poorly coded website. You would need to contact each website where you see this happening and get them to fix their code.

I don't have Flash added to my IE11 64bit or to my Pale Moon 64bit [Firefox] browser. On some websites, I get a brief warning that I need Flash - but videos play anyway - without Flash. If they don't play, I copy/paste the URL into Chrome 32bit.

Before making this post, I installed IE11 64bit into a virtual machine - then added Flash. The video that you linked to played just fine. You can try completely resetting IE (including step 5). I'm not sure what else to suggest.



My suggestion to remove Flash add-ons (but keep Chrome's Flash) was not offered as a solution to your specific problem. It is generic advice that I bore people with due to Flash based infections.



When is the last time that you needed Java? If you do not use it, then why risk having it on your computer? If you do use it, then at least you benefit from the risk of having it installed.

Last night I actually removed all flash/shockwave on my computer as well as Java, did the complete reset of IE (which I've done before) and then rebooted and had the same problem when I tried to look at the video afterwards. I'm quite sure it's just something strange on my computer considering my wife's computer is almost identical and doesn't have the same problem.

I guess I'll just keep looking until I figure out what it is. It really was an HTML5 problem on that website I would think it would be repeatable on other computers running the same OS version in the same IE version but it isn't.

Msradell said:

I'm quite sure it's just something strange on my computer considering my wife's computer is almost identical and doesn't have the same problem.

That is good info to have. That tells us that it is not an HTML5 issue or even a problem with your ISP.

I'm not sure what it could be. If you want, you can temporarily enable the Windows Guest account and see if test the videos. If they will not play while using the guest account, then the problem is system wide.

Just an idea - On the IE page, go to Tools (in the menu bar at the top) and make sure "Active X Filtering" is not checked.

UsernameIssues said:

Msradell said:

I'm quite sure it's just something strange on my computer considering my wife's computer is almost identical and doesn't have the same problem.

That is good info to have. That tells us that it is not an HTML5 issue or even a problem with your ISP.

I'm not sure what it could be. If you want, you can temporarily enable the Windows Guest account and see if test the videos. If they will not play while using the guest account, then the problem is system wide.

That was a great idea. I tried it in the video play just fine under the user account. Now I need to figure out how to repair my own account, trying to set up everything again on a new account for me would be a major pain.

Can I just erase all information under appdata that deals with Internet Explorer under my profile and then let it rebuild itself?

Msradell said:

Can I just erase all information under appdata that deals with Internet Explorer under my profile and then let it rebuild itself?

Since I have a system image anyway I decided to experiment a little bit. I renamed the Internet Explorer directories under AppData that contained Internet Explorer data in both the local and roaming profiles to "Old Internet Explorer". I then rebooted and tried watching the video again. Everything worked perfectly!! I then went in and deleted the "Old Internet Explorer" directories I had created.