Video Buffering

DELL Laptop
1700 Series
Intel Core IE5
Windows 7

Computer is only a few weeks old, and not used all that much. I have noticed that sometimes while trying to veiw a video (Youtube, or linked from a web site using DailyMotion, or , several other players) my player will pause (buffering). Eventualy it will start back playing after a few seconds, but sometimes it takes quite a while. On some occasions i just stop the video all together, and view it on another day, and it works fine (most of the time).

Is there something i'm doing wrong with my computer (settings wrong), or could it be the video was loaded wrong by the poster?

I run a speedtest on my broadband service several times a week, and the download/upload speeds are for the most part consistant with the service i am paying for. My speeds are running around 12-20 Mbps (download), and 3-5 Mbps (upload).

Is there a way to set this playback at optimal settings to avoid the buffering of certain video's, or is this common for viewing videos?

Thank You,
2-Cups

What browser are you using? My mother used to get that all the time and she was using Firefox. I switched her to Chrome and she doesn't have anymore problems on YouTube.

I'm using Internet Explorer 8

I just set the computer up right out of the box (about 6 weeks ago), letting Windows, Dell, and what ever else it came with install. Other than that just anti-virus, Microsft office/Student 2010, and Quicken.

I had Firefox and Chrome at one time on my other laptop, but incountered different "minor" problems with each, and decided to just stick with IE (at that time version 7).

I keep everything updated (automatic updates), and had the computer optimized at the store (Geek Squad) about 3 weeks ago.

The buffering doesnt happen all the time, but enough to annoy me. I thought with broadband service, and Intel IE5, this would not be a problem.

Thanks Again,
2-Cups

What AV program do you use? Is it McAfee?

Trend Micro

Have you tried disabling it?

You took it to Geek Squad? Ouch! That was a mistake you probably won't be able to correct. They have a habit of mucking around in the registry and doing more harm than good.

You're right,

It's a problem I can't take back now, but was charged $100+ to optimize, and remove a trojan horse on a brand new computer, that at the time had only been turned on, and loaded 3 new programs (also purchased there) 1 of which was the virus protection............."Boy that worked out well".

On the video issue i've come to believe that the internet is just advancing way to fast. It wasn't long ago that dial-up would run most anything online (within reason), and now it seems you need a broadband service signed on at 750,000,000,000 MBPS to log on to any site.

Of course you are required at least 4 years at MIT before understanding the simple task of web browsing

Thanks again,
2-Cups

My best advice, for the sake of undoing whatever some foolish Geek Squad tech did, is to backup your data and do a restore.

As far as AV protection, I use and highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. It will better protect you than Trend Micro.