SW Flash Player

[seekermeister]

I really don't know which forum this question belongs in, because I don't know if it is hardware, software, internet or ? For about the last week, when viewing videos on Hulu, the picture displays squigglying lines and blocks in the black or very dark areas.

It is not a browser problem, because it is the same in 3 different browsers that I've tried. I don't think that it is a plugin problem, because I updated Opera to the latest version of the player, and it still has the same problem. Curiously, IE is using an older version of SWF player, but I have no idea of why, because the only location that I find for it is the same place that Opera uses...\System32\Macromed, and that is the newer version.

Since the problem doesn't exist with my primary computer, that seems to rule out the ISP or Hulu as the culprit. The only thing that I can think of that is different is that the secondary computer accesses the internet via a WIFI adapter, while the primary is hardwired to the router.

If it seems that my thinking is somewhat broad and not focused, that is because it is. How do I pinpoint the problem, so that a solution can be found?

EDIT: What seems even odder is that when I study the larger blocks (don't know if the term artifact is right or not), it is apparent that they are showing a totally different image, as though the proper image is torn and exposing portions of some other image. So far as I could tell, the obscure image is not moving and if it is some part of the movie playing, it is so far out of sync, that it would require several minutes to have elapsed...either forward or backward.

 

[richc46]

Lets try the simple things first
May be a graphic driver
Go to search and type in device manager
Look at your grahpics driver. Is it up to date? Are there any yellow warning markers in the device manager?

Did you go to the website and get the most current version of flash player?

 

[seekermeister]

Graphics driver is the latest, nothing awry in the Device Manager. As I tried to explain previously, I have only been able to update the Flash Player as far as Opera is concerned...not for I.E or for GetFLV, which I assume uses the same player that I.E does, because it is the same older version. I have not been able to locate where this older version is located, otherwise I would copy/paste the newer one in. Still, Opera, which is using the latest Flash Player has the same problem as the others.

How is it possible for the same still image to keep appearing in the blocks mentioned, throughout an entire movie?

 

[richc46]

Try going to tools
internet options
programs
manage addons
Is it there?
Do you see silver light and is it turned on?
Silver light is the MS version of flash

 

[seekermeister]

No, neither Silverlight or SW Flash player are listed there.

 

[richc46]

Type the full name of SW in search see if we can find SW
If you had silverlight it would have shown.

 

[seekermeister]

I had better luck doing a manual search. I entered shockwave flash and then macromedia, and it found nothing.

 

[richnrockville]

"Since the problem doesn't exist with my primary computer, that seems to rule out the ISP or Hulu as the culprit. The only thing that I can think of that is different is that the secondary computer accesses the internet via a WIFI adapter, while the primary is hardwired to the router."

I think you should look at your wireless network, See if you can hardwire your computer into the network,
like run a long cable and see if your problem goes away.
It sounds to me that your wireless is interupting your video stream. Maybe a packet size thing.
FWIW
Rich

 

[richc46]

Ok
Type process explorer in google.
Then just run,no need to install Process explorer
Then just click on flash, it give location etc.

 

[seekermeister]

"Since the problem doesn't exist with my primary computer, that seems to rule out the ISP or Hulu as the culprit. The only thing that I can think of that is different is that the secondary computer accesses the internet via a WIFI adapter, while the primary is hardwired to the router."

I think you should look at your wireless network, See if you can hardwire your computer into the network,
like run a long cable and see if your problem goes away.
It sounds to me that your wireless is interupting your video stream. Maybe a packet size thing.
FWIW
Rich

That makes sense to me, but I don't have a cable long enough, and don't want to drag the computer to my main station at the moment.

I'm going to wait, because UPS should deliver a new hard drive that I ordered within the next hour or so, and I'm going to do a clean install of W7 and see what it does. Currently, I'm having to use XP MCE. If the problem remains on the W7 installation, it would have to be the wireless causing the problem, but I still don't understand how it could cause it to display a still image below the moving one?

 

[seekermeister]

Ok
Type process explorer in google.
Then just run,no need to install Process explorer
Then just click on flash, it give location etc.

I already have Process Explorer installed, and neither it or the Task Manager lists it...unless it is one of those hidden items run in svchost or the like. As far as I know, the player is run by a plugin by the browser. At least that is true with Opera, and wouldn't be listed as a process.

That is one of the nice things about Opera, it list the path to all of the plugins that it uses.

 

[richc46]

Well
If I cant really help with SW, let me tell you that process expl came out with a new version, today. You may be interested

 

[seekermeister]

Thanks, I just upgraded it.

 

[seekermeister]

Well, it is working properly on my new W7 installation, so that would seem to rule out wireless problems. Since I do now have W7, I guess the priority of the problem has diminished somewhat, since I will use XP far less, but I still would like to fix it.

 

[Windows i7 920]

Have you tried uninstalling the graphics drivers, rebooting, reinstalling the graphics drivers, and then rebooting again? I've had to do that once to fix driver issues with my ATI. Also you said IE had a different version. That is due to the fact that IE uses a different plugin system than any of the other browsers do. It's called ActiveX. Your machine has a different ActiveX version than plug-in version. You could also try reinstalling your network card drivers, and maybe even Flash Player / the browser.