Flash Player/Plug-in Not Working with HD Video

I am at my wits end trying to make a Dell Inspiron 620 that belongs to the local library work with Flash and HD files on YouTube.com. I have completely wiped out all the old OS and files by doing the factory image restore saving no changed files (several times) so I know there should be none of the common problems caused by cookies, cached files, and wayward extensions and plug-ins. I have also tried to make it work with IE9, Firefox 22, and the latest Opera and I have tried them all with two different versions of Flash and nothing seems to work. It seems to play some of the videos fine but those that appear to be HD types play for a second then show the error “An error occurred, please try again later”. Since it doesn't work in any browser, or with two versions of Flash including the newest one, that might suggest a hardware problem or incompatibility with Windows 7 64 as configured on Dell’s restore image.

Are there any known issues with the Inspiron 620, Dell’s install of Windows 7 64 and Flash?

Is there something in the configuration of Windows 7 that could be the source of the problem?

I have an old XP PC with Firefox 22 and the same version of Flash that has half the horsepower of the Dell that plays the HD videos fine so I find it hard to believe that the Dell just isn't up to the task.

Thanks to both of you for replying and my apologies for posting in the wrong area.

ThrashZone, I believe I have done all that you and the URLs you posted have suggested. After one of the restores from the factory image, I uninstalled Flash via the control panel, then deleted all the files in the macromed directories in both Windows system directories, changed the ownership and permissions of the .ocx file, the one file I couldn’t delete normally, and then deleted that. Finally I ran CCLeaner to clean up the registry of any trash.

I then opened IE which took me to the MSN site but then went directly and only to the Mozilla site where I downloaded the latest Firefox 22 and installed it. I then successfully installed the latest Flash manually (auto failed), turned off all the plug-ins except Flash and it wouldn't work. I then tried updating Java to the latest and greatest and enabled that but it did not help. If I randomly pick a movie trailer on YouTube it seems to play the ad before the trailer but not the actual trailer.

As for possible DNS issues, I don't think that is the case. It doesn't work at home or at the library while all the other PCs on both networks (all XP types) work. I can also surf to any location on the problem PC. The library I believe uses the ISP’s DNS servers while I use two that Steve Gibson’s DNS benchmark software reported as the fastest for me.

I also have two new pieces of information. I was up against a deadline as I needed to return the PC to the library for its next opening so I finally installed Chrome, fixed it so a Google login wasn't required, and then gave it a new YouTube desktop icon. That worked fine so at least the unhappy patron should be able to use YouTube the way he wants the next time he visits the library. While typing the paragraph above I also realized that the librarian has the only other Windows 7 PC in the library and I set that up a year or so back so it should have Firefox on it. She probably doesn't look at movie trailers but I sent her an email asking that she do so and to email me the results. If her PC works fine, I will visit the library when it is next closed and take a look at it to see if there are any obvious differences. Bearing in mind of course to do no harm in doing so. I do not need two broken machines.

I would still like to know what is doing this so if you have any other suggestions please let me know. I might not be able to try any possible solutions until the library is closed but I will get back to you at some point. Thanks again.

A Guy, I just read your posting a second time making sure I had not missed a good point and realized that I should have pointed out in my first posting that the Dell 620 is a desktop unit and not a laptop, and that I had already tried it at home. I have a KVM switch so for PCs that need a lot of work I normally bring them home. It just makes it easier if I have to consult the web for research.