Tahirah's dashboard

On both Firefox and IE browsers (both the latest) it's still with choppyness, and actually stalls when i pause vid to buffer. 768 MB of Ram on a 2002 Dell Dimension 4500 desktop. I watch vids on 2005 Dell laptop. Different graphics card, newer system although it's considered old itself. i will be buying a new desktop hopefully by february when i hope to go for BA. The problem has to be affected more with old systems like my desktop and 29-33% of space on C drive. – Tahirah, on November 09, 2009 07:57

Hey mikebchicago, sorry for the months delay but I hope the other comments helped or an upgrade or smth else helped. When u install Vlc player and check the box for the mozilla active x and firefox plugin, that's all u would have to do. But it seems the prob might be beyong VLC's help if u are still having problems. The weird thing is my laptop isn't choppy at all for hours. I know it must be that I have hardly anything installed in it (i use my desktop mostly) so I am going to add more memory to what I already added. The computer is going to my brothers as soon as i can afford a new one (from way before this issue came up) for school. ***So pt is, if there is still a prob, it might be memory*** – Tahirah, on October 26, 2009 06:15

I think putting Flash player on low quality setting did it. I probably still have to pause to buffer some vids in general (i am on ovguide,com alot) but I should be getting a new Dell Hybrid sooner rather than later, so I won't be dealing with this 2001 Dell computer's CPU shortcomings. I have my screen resolution @ highest with flash on low qaulity. it's doing well and will trying out the vids @ different resolutions highter than 1280x....now i just have to go into my monitor controls and tweak how my font looks lol.

I'm sure we all did that. It's unchecked whenever I play Flash videos pd. It's been a bigger issue with how Flash player works with Hulu, because other websites' Flash videos are fine. I regularly check for Flash updates on Adobe, and Hulu says they are in communication with Adobe about the problem.

@ least @ 12:36am Tuesday morning with 3.0.10 Firefox and 1024 screen resolution the short vid with "family guy" cast ran smoothly and i tested it on ep of "hell's kitchen" for 10 mins and that was smooth also. I would strongly recommend u upgrade firefox for the security fixes! – Tahirah, on April 28, 2009 04:37

I have 3.0.8, and just got notification of a 3.0.10 which im about to install. Like Josh says u need 2 update your browser. Flash should be giving us a new version sooner rather than later...i hope.

Yea, im having smth similar. But confidentially, on my sister's Mac it is not choppy @ all. I apt sat for her for a day, and was spending the whole time on Hulu! im not saying dump Windows system, but there could be a thing with the computer 2. i haven't asked someone with the latest Windows comp with loads of memory 2 try out Hulu. *sigh* Well 20% is better than 0 :-/ *** im getting a new laptop within a couple of weeks, just need 2 pick it up fm Jersey. I'll try out Hulu on that one--Latitude D610 and my cousin hasn't fully tested out her new Dell Studio laptop, i'll see if hers makes any streaming difference k?

Hey Sid,

Well i have to keep my screen resolution on 1024X768 and there's a update for the VLC media player: 0.9.9 (use to be 0.9.8) u can get it off of filehippo.com You do need Shockwave Flash player to even see any of the sliding stills and vids on Hulu. VLC's plugin just helps with the smooth stream. I do agree with Hulu tech support that your bandwidth still affects the stream. I disabled my Divx web player plugin (which i only use on Ovguide.com or other sites that i def know have divx vids)

***when u install the vlc media player make sure that Mozilla is checked (Mozilla is firefox browser's maker) the VLC plugin only works with Firefox. I use to have IE 8 beta but when it clashed with older webpgs i downgraded to IE7 until the full IE 8 just came out. IE 8 seems to be working well as long as i keep my resolution on 1024

Regardless of the vids streaming smoothly now it still sucks cuz my 22" monitor is capable of 1680x1050 pixels and due to my low hard drive space (check ur disk space also, pgms dont run smoothly when u dont have enough disk space) i have to keep tabs of how many pgms i have installed. I am planning on adding more mem to my 2001 Dell for 30 bucks before i pass it on to my little brother and upgrade to a Dell Hybrid.

***SUMMARY: Upgrade to VLC 0.9.9 (make sure Mozilla box is checked so Firefox plugin gets installed!!!), try 1024x768 resolution, make sure u have enough disk space (firefox has been freezing on me & get "low virtual memory" notice every 10-15 mins), i think 40% and above disk space is best ( i only have 35% now), and any unneccessary plugins disabled from firefox.

(if u have Xp, delete stuff from prefetch folder---RUN>type "prefetch", delete temp internet files) RESTART BROWSER AFTER INSTALLATION

Just so u know about the recommended hardware Adobe states on the website for optimal performance:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashpl...

No, mike there is no need to "enable". If u see "VLC Multimedia Plugin" (after Shockwave Player, if u have that installed) in your Add-on list, you're good to go. U can disable any of ur addons simply by clicking "disable" that when u highlight the add-on. Did u try seeing a vid on hulu.com in full screen mode? if it's smooth, problem solved.

Hey mikebchicago, it's during the installation. If u already have it installed u would have to reinstall it (but delete it from Add/Remove pgms in control panel) There will be a point where there's a checklist of what's going to be assigned. Just make sure Mozilla ActiveX and Firefox plugin are checked off. then restart firefox....well better yet, after the installation (or reinstallation) restart the computer. Good luck :-) – Tahirah, on March 25, 2009 05:28

It seems that VLC is working. I'm going to check it during the week. I still need to add more memory for my computer to move smoother overall, but this solves my video issues overall i think on websites in gnrl. Thanks Lewis! :-)

I will check that out Mr. Lewis, thnx. my brother's have that on their computer. that might be why their full screen vids are good (we have the same age computers). i'll try it out and let u know.

***but just 4 future reference, if u have a Dell, buying extra memory isn't expensive as i thought (could be happier if there wasn't 15$ tax) but for my Dell xp comp 512MB is $30. My neighborhood computer supply store says memory in general isn't expensive to buy.

I upgraded to the latest flash player 10.0.22.87 which must be the version u were talking about. the previous one is still considered Flash player 10, but it was something like 10.0.11.... on filehippo.com you can downgrade to 10.0.11. I have no clue why there needed to be a upgrade. adobe flash player should have specs on the upgraded version and what it's "fixing" but if it isnt anything serious, just downgrade to the prev. version. thats what im doing. but i still need to buy extra memory from dell to get faster startup time and processing.

I have Flash 10 :-/ with the resolution change solving most of it ( i still have to add memory) but if anything email Hulu tho they will tell u to check ur bandwidth. And when in doubt, reinstall flash 10. Adobe might have a upgrade or tweak.

Hi, I'm still going to upgrade my video card since my computer is abt 7/8 yrs old, but i found that the vids run seamless for me in full screen at lower resolution 800x600/650 (forgot the second #) but what tech supports never told me @ Dell was that screen resolution makes a difference with full screen (they just told me to upgrade vid card and add more memory). the vid is a little fuzzier but @ 800 resolution, i can select hi-res w/o the pic being choppy (well it chopped for a sec while it was adjusting). i thought i needed a special vid card to support it. Surprise Surprise. ***** U might not necessarily have to play vids on 800, u might just have to lower it to the next resolution below the one your @ currently. It's completely seamless full screen on 800X on my comp(i have a 22" flat screen Dell monitor) but do a trial and error on ur screen resolutions. I'd like to know how it turns out. I love Hulu, it helps me save space on my DVR by having to splitting viewing time btwn computer and tv ~owner of a Dell 4500