YouTube Changes

[Sportster]

. . .

 

[tree]

Uh.....What new format?

When did something change?
I haven't noticed anything different.
I use youtube every day.

What have I missed?

 

[Gritches]

Something major changed? I feel threatened.

But seriously, I'm using YouTube right now, I don't see anything different. What changed? What'd I miss?

 

[Judge]

What "restore" option do you speak of?

To my knowledge the latest format changes with YouTube occurred late last August. I have not experienced any kind of noticeable degrade in performance such as video judder. But then I have a fairly powerful video display adapter with HD capability not dependent on built-in graphics as part of a CPU. Though still running Windows 7.

Sadly for those of you with older, slower machines in terms of both GPU and CPU capability such issues are likely to increase with time. Though such issues may not necessarily solely reside with YouTube, but your OS and or BIOS.

You might also go into your Windows update menu/records to see if anything changed in Windows 7 pertinent to your existing video drivers if you by chance elected to allow them to be updated. You might consider rolling back an updated driver if that might be the case. New doesn't always equate to better in the world of software on the PC platform. So many compatibility factors to consider.

Though considering some of your other computer problems, I can't help but wonder if they are all interrelated through a corrupt OS file or motherboard component. Tragic that you can't "flush" your system by a clean reinstall of the OS and BIOS software.

 

[Kirsty]

My idea of social media is here and YouTube

Same here, dude. We rock! There’s nothing wrong with this.

 

[Jorg]

The only problem I've had is the monetization, I have to wait until 10k views to get paid...1.5k to the goal lol

 

[onlything]

Fortunately the change is not that big and seeing as I use my personalised dark theme, it doesn't seem to change much anyway. I imagine that the problem lies either in your machine or Windows 7. I'm currently on 10, so can't be sure as I had problems with 7 and, especially, 8 before. If you could tell us your PC's specifics we could analyse the power and possibly let you know what's the reason. Eventually, your computer may be simply, hm, disorganised enough that it causes significant problems with newer software/solutions. Just a theory though.

 

[pjcnet]

Which browser are you using? I recommend using Chrome or Firefox (Opera is also good as a 3rd choice), if you are using Internet Explorer however I would definitely change browsers as in my opinion it is awful and it will also soon become obsolete with Windows 10 being bundled with Microsoft Edge instead. You could try another browser to see if the problem is browser related. You should keep your browser version up to date.

You could try clearing your browser cache, this procedure is straight forward, but different depending upon the browser you're using, if you need any further advice please let me know.

Sometimes browser extensions can cause issues which you might want to eliminate, for instance you can make Chrome load without extensions as a test by right clicking on your Chrome shortcut, selecting "Properties", selecting the "Target" field and then appending "–incognito" to the end of the command. Once done apply and press okay, then reload Chrome and test Youtube. If you need further help please let me know which browser you are using.

It could be a CODEC issue, you could download and install a good CODEX pack such as K-Lite to ensure everything is up to date, the standard pack is more than good enough for the average user.

It's best to ensure you download and install the latest graphics driver from AMD, Nvidia or in a few cases Intel, you can find out which GPU you have by checking Device Manager, but if you need any further advice on how to do this please let me know.

Ensure your PC is running reasonably in general, you may wish to run a simple house keeping utility such as CCleaner (you only need the free version). Ensure you're not short of disk space. Also ensure nothing untoward is running in the background when Windows 7 loads, you could eliminate startup programs as a test to ensure none of these are causing any issues, please click here for more. You may also wish to ensure you have no adware or malware running, I could write quite a bit about this alone, but if you need any further help on this subject please let me know.

It's good practice to ensure Windows updates are installed and kept up to date, if you need further advice on this issue please let me know. Please note that Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 on January 13, 2015, but extended support like security patches won't end until January 14, 2020 (after this Windows 7 will become vulnerable and I wouldn't recommend using it online any longer). Soon you will be forced to upgrade to Windows 10 if you wish to run up to date browsers and software (even Windows 8 mainstream support ends on January 9, 2018 with extended support ending on January 10, 2023). If a PC isn't capable of running Windows 10 it will very soon become totally obsolete if it's not already. Sorry about that warning, I hate Microsoft forcing people to upgrade / buy new hardware too.

Note: I think everyone is now automatically forced to use a more up to date HTML5 player in Youtube, hence why I haven't mentioned updating the Adobe Flash Player, this fairly recent change may have caused issues for a small number of people who were still using the old Flash player, but this issue would usually be browser related, so again try disabling extensions and maybe another browser to test.

 

[Judge]

Can't tell what browser you're using. Does it allow you to disable/uncheck hardware acceleration ? You might try that just to see if it makes any difference.

 

[Judge]

I have a feeling my problem goes back to what you mentioned in a previous thread about my lack of memory. I have 2 GB of RAM, which is nothing. However, I don't believe I can upgrade it.

Yes, we've discussed your existing machine before. Sounds a lot like my legacy XP system I only run offline.

Indeed, 2 GB of RAM may simply no longer be enough. Software developers are not sympathetic to users of older hardware and software platforms. And you never know when the slightest software change might evoke some really unintended responses from an aging computer.

Though you may also have corrupted system files you can't reinstall that may be slowly crippling your system incrementally. Hard to say.

 

[Judge]

Actually, it has been running pretty good since I took the side panel off. I've not had the blue screen of death in quite some time. My friend's son suggested that my heat sink might be warped and thus not allowing the processor to cool properly if the panel is on.

I have tried to locate more memory for it, but I've not had much luck. Maybe next week when I have some time off I'll get it out where I can actually see things. Another couple gig would no doubt be helpful.

Thermal problems are generally easy to spot. With problems arising usually only when the system has been on awhile, and you can observe elevated temperatures from the BIOS.

Yeah, a computer that old may max out at 2 GB of RAM. I know my legacy system does.

 

[pjcnet]

Actually, it has been running pretty good since I took the side panel off. I've not had the blue screen of death in quite some time. My friend's son suggested that my heat sink might be warped and thus not allowing the processor to cool properly if the panel is on.

I have tried to locate more memory for it, but I've not had much luck. Maybe next week when I have some time off I'll get it out where I can actually see things. Another couple gig would no doubt be helpful.

You may want to download and install CPUID HWMonitor to check your temperatures and it should also display your motherboard model, once you have that you or I can lookup exactly what memory it supports. If it's a very old machine it could be using DDR2 memory, or worse DDR1 (most machines these days use DDR3 or DDR4 memory which is much faster too). If it's using DDR2 memory then there's a good chance you'd be-able to upgrade beyond 2GB (it would probably have 2 or 4 motherboard slots, they might all be occupied, but even if that's the case they may be replaceable with higher capacity DIMMs), but with DDR1 memory you would probably be at the maximum already and the memory will be running so slowly that it's beyond obsolete these days too (most definitely time to get a new machine). The software will also display your processor model (which should be found in Device Manager too), with this information you or I can lookup the maximum recommended temperature for that particular processor, if it exceeds this under load then it could crash (it doesn't do the processor any good to keep overheating it either). You could ensure any fans / heat sinks are cleaned (it's best to use an air duster / compressed air to blow away dust), but if it works better with the side panel off it sounds like you simply haven't got sufficient cooling and you might get away with just some extra case fans if you wanted to resolve the problem properly (since it can be a pain to change / upgrade the cooler on the CPU, especially on some older models where you could even have to remove the entire motherboard and you would also need to reapply thermal compound).

I agree that 2GB of RAM isn't enough these days, even though the official minimum requirements are less, you want at least 4GB to run Windows 7 or in fact Windows 10 with modern software reasonably, but obviously modern PCs often have 8GB, 16GB or in some cases even more (you must have a modern 64 bit processor to take advantage of more than 4GB and you must install a 64 bit version of Windows which is also recommended these days). Your PC is however so old that it's really not worth investing much money in it, so unless you can get more memory very cheaply (you might get some 2nd hand), it's better to put the money towards another PC instead. Also your GPU is bound to be extremely dated and may well struggle to decode and play videos over a certain resolution, you at least want a GPU that copes with HD video. In my previous reply I spoke about updating to latest graphics card driver, well if your machine is extremely old they may not even be releasing new drivers any more.

If you want to upgrade your PC base unit cheaply then even something like this would be ideal for surfing the Internet + playing videos, or you could even find something cheaper (I would ensure you get a least a quad core these days however and 4GB memory minimum, but preferably 8GB). You can find similar refurbished systems all over the world, offices upgrade their PCs and there's literally many thousands of excess machines that get sold off cheaply. Shop around however as prices for similar spec PCs vary greatly. If you want new, then if you state your budget and country I will take a look for a good deal for you. Best of luck!

 

[Judge]

Thanks for the tips! I checked out that Dell you recommended. I found the same unit on Amazon, so I may look into that one. Here are the specs on the machine I am presently using:

Pentium 4 3.00GHz
2 GB RAM
320 GB HDD
DVD-ROM
Windows 7 HP 64 bit

That's what's on the tag from the computer store I bought. It's obviously outdated and probably getting tired.

Interesting. Running a 64-bit OS with a CPU that can only deliver 32 bit performance. That's an issue unto itself. I'd say you're "flying a crippled bird" for the get-go.

 

[Judge]

I probably wouldn't know what to do with a better machine at this point. It goes without saying, but my understanding of computers consists of pushing the big button on the front and waiting for the little green and red lights to do their thing. Maybe when tax time rolls around I'll see about a new machine . . . something that is actually current and perhaps ahead of the game.

Just for giggles, here's my machine in all its glory:

View attachment 39147

Well, it's what's inside that counts. Not how the case appears. Mine is also quite austere looking, but by design. Though it may not be once I install removable SSDs so I can run Windows 10 and Windows 7 offline.

VANTEC EZ Swap EX MRK-253ST-BK Aluminum / Plastic 2.5" Black SATA I/II/III USB 3.0 2.5" SATA III SSD/HDD Mobile Rack (Full Kit) - Newegg.com

Though there's no real incentive for me to go to Windows 10 as virtually none of my software will work on that platform. I may still just buy a Mac when I have to start from scratch at the appropriate time.

You'd probably be shocked by how responsive a state-of-the-art system can be compared to what you have. It makes me somewhat impatient at times when I use my legacy system even for the most mundane purposes.

 

[pjcnet]

Thanks for the tips! I checked out that Dell you recommended. I found the same unit on Amazon, so I may look into that one. Here are the specs on the machine I am presently using:

Pentium 4 3.00GHz
2 GB RAM
320 GB HDD
DVD-ROM
Windows 7 HP 64 bit

That's what's on the tag from the computer store I bought. It's obviously outdated and probably getting tired.

There is good and bad news, well I hope it's good news.

The bad news first:

From what I've been reading it's a socket 478 motherboard (very dated) and unfortunately it uses extremely old DDR1 memory which means most likely already have the maximum memory.

The good news (I hope):

I think your problem could be caused by Youtube recently trying to force people to use the newer HTML5 player instead of the older Flash player that was being phased out and I've read about other people with low spec machines having lagging / stuttering issues when they could play videos okay (well at lower resolutions at least) using the older Flash player. I haven't tested it as my PC is a much higher spec than yours, but there could be a solution in the form of an Extension / Addon which is available for Chrome or Firefox that forces Youtube to once again use the old Flash player. Please search Google for "Flash Player for YouTube" then go-to either the Chrome Web Store or Add-ons for Firefox depending on your browser and install the extension / addon. In the extension / addon settings you can choose either version of the player to use as default, but obviously you will want to use the Flash player.

Even if it does work and buys you some time, your PC is extremely old and an upgrade is overdue. Best of luck!