Windows 7: Netflix CPU usage maxes out and causes video to lag

Yeah, I tried that earlier and installed Silverlight version 4.0.xxxx but when I opened Netflix it told me that I did not have Silverlight installed making it seem like it didn't support that older version. However on my laptop that is running Windows 7 32 bit I have Silverlight version 4.1.xxxxx installed and Netflix works perfectly.



So does Netflix support older Silverlight versions on 64 bit machines because I was unsuccessful to get any video playing unless I used the Silverlight 5 plugin.

I would look to these sources for that type of information:

Netflix Tech Support Site Uses Silverlight as Problem Poster Child

Choppy Video with Netflix : The Official Microsoft Silverlight.NET Forums

Netflix is choppy with Silverlight 5 : The Official Microsoft Silverlight.NET Forums

Well I reinstalled Windows 7, and only installed the silverlight plugin (the latest and an older one) but the video still begins to lag after about a minute and the CPU usage jumps up. So I guess it could be hardware related but the fact that other videos like youtube and movie files that I have play fine is what really throws me off.

My temporary solution was to borrow my girlfriend's Roku XS which does an excellent job streaming Netflix. But it still bugs me that my computer isn't able to replicate those results.

Have you ever been able to play netflix on this computer without the CPU spike?

Yes, for about a year. I also know it was working fine after I installed my SSD about 3 months ago. So obviously something changed but I'm not sure about the time period that it happened. And the fact that I did a clean install of Windows 7 again last night with the problem still being there really confuses me.

When you did a clean install, did you reinstall all of the necessary system drivers before installing silverlight?

ASRock > Products > Motherboard > H55M > Download

If you have not, completely uninstall silverlight (or maybe even better yet, do a system restore to before you installed it), reboot, then download and install all of those drivers, except the INF driver. That one is pretty out of date. Instead, go straight to Intel and download the INF update utility here and run it:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...ility&lang=eng

Reboot again, run Windows Updates and see if there are any recommended updates for your drivers. If so, copy/paste that screenshot to here so we can see which ones we'd recommend further updating at that point.

Ok I uninstalled Silverlight and installed all the drivers like you said. Here are two screenshots of the updates suggested by Windows Update. One is the important updates and the other is the optional.

Can we get more information on both of the Intel updates? I believe the Intel HD Graphics update is going to install an older version than you just installed direct from Intel, which we don't want. In the meantime, you can install updates 1,2,5, and 6 in the Optional Updates section right now.

Ok, the "Intel - Other hardware - Intel Management Engine Interface" update says it was released in September 2009

The "Intel Corporation - Display - Intel HD Graphics" update says it was released in January 2012

Both give me no more details when I click "More Information" on the right side of the screen.

Yea, no need to install the Intel Management Engine Interface as I don't think you'll be using that at any point.

http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/a...s/eng/1004.htm


Edit: If you go to Device Manager, are there any yellow exclamations? If so, can we get a screenshot.