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YouTube videos load so slow compared to other browsers

  • 4 replies
  • 23 have this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by nicolaes

nicolaes
nicolaes
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YouTube videos are completely downloading in memory from the start, slowing down the PC a great deal. So if I try to watch a 20-min 1080p video, I have to wait ~20-30 secs to load completely in the memory. Only after that can I watch it without the PC freezing completely.

How can I get back to the original functionality, where the videos were downloaded incrementally as you watched them?

My setup is: Intel Core2Duo 2.2, 3.2 GB RAM 800MHz, ATI Radeon HD 5670 w/1GB memory, 100Mbit broadband (~8-10 MB/s with youtube servers) However, Chrome for example loads flawlessly with almost no lag. But I love Firefox and don't want to switch to anything else...

Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks in advance, Nicolae

YouTube videos are completely downloading in memory from the start, slowing down the PC a great deal. So if I try to watch a 20-min 1080p video, I have to wait ~20-30 secs to load completely in the memory. Only after that can I watch it without the PC freezing completely. How can I get back to the original functionality, where the videos were downloaded incrementally as you watched them? My setup is: Intel Core2Duo 2.2, 3.2 GB RAM 800MHz, ATI Radeon HD 5670 w/1GB memory, 100Mbit broadband (~8-10 MB/s with youtube servers) However, Chrome for example loads flawlessly with almost no lag. But I love Firefox and don't want to switch to anything else... Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks in advance, Nicolae

Modified by nicolaes

All Replies (4)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Do you run any video downloading add-ons or other media-related add-ons that might change the standard behavior of the Flash player? If so try disabling those and test whether Flash behaves normally again.

orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Add-ons > Plugins category
orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Add-ons > Extensions category

(You usually need to restart Firefox before disabling an Extension will take effect.)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Try to disable all other plugins apart from Flash to see if that helps.

nicolaes
nicolaes Question owner
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Hello,

Thanks jscher2000 and cor-el for the support. I disabled all the plugins beside Shockwave Flash, still the YouTube videos freeze the PC until completely loaded, eating 100% of my CPU. My only Add-ons now (when I re-enabled them) are:

  • Shockwave Flash
  • Adobe PDF
  • Google Update
  • JRE 7u7
  • App Button Color
  • Firebug
  • Live HTTP Headers

However, I noticed a few more things:

  • The Firefox PC-freezing occurs mostly on high-resolution videos (1080p)
  • Chrome puts his video download/processing thread on a lower priority somehow, so the CPU is at 100% too, but the other programs (including the video stream itself) are not affected
  • Putting Firefox and Chrome side-by-side with the same video stream, 1 real-life minute will allow Firefox to play ~1:02 min of YouTube video, while Chrome remains at ~0:58.

I also attached a screenshot of my PC streaming on both browsers, maybe that will help anyone.


Thanks again for all your support, Nicolae

nicolaes
nicolaes Question owner
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... seems the picture didn't upload last time, as I was using drag-and-drop. Maybe somebody shouldn't use $('#id_image').change() on file inputs anymore... :)