movies flick playing on computer

[sumter]

In the past just about any movie I downloaded would play on my computer. Lately when I play a movie in full screen mode the pictues flick, like one of those books where a movie appears when you thumb through the pages really fast. The pictures runs smoothly when full screen is removed.

Another problem is that frequently (also on the computer) the speech does not match the mouth movements of the speakers. Often the voice preceeds the mouth movement.

Is there any cure for this?

Sandy

[redwudz]

It may be you've added a 'few' programs from when you started with the computer. If programs are running in the background, that can slow things down.

With XP, check the Task Manager when you play a movie. If your CPU and memory load are high, that can cause problems. Also, try some different software players. You may find one that uses less memory. I use VLC as it has it's own codecs.

If you have 256MB memory with XP, you might do with more to reduce the load somewhat.

Make sure you are using the latest drivers for your motherboard and your video card.

Defrag your hard drive, if that's what you are playing the video from.

As far as the audio/video sync problems, that can be caused by some of the problems above or old, or two many codecs, as in a codec pack, or may be a problem with the file itself.

[kschang]

Some players are better than others with certain codecs.

For example, while VLC can handle MPEG4/DIVX/XVID, it actually handles XVID best, with proper video/audio sync and all that. It doesn't handle DIVX that well, strangely. BSPlayer is best in general, but can lose sync between video and audio when playing MPEG4 type streams like DIVX5 with heavy decoding.

MPLAYERC is pretty decent, and I haven't tried that command-line MPLAYER much yet.

[guns1inger]

To be honest, your computer has barely enough spec to run most of these well on a good day, so any other burden will surely cause problems.

256MB of ram is barely enough for XP to call home, let alone run any apps.

When was the last time you defragged the HDD ?
When was the last time you did a clean install of XP ?
Do you like to install and try out new software ?
When was the last time you cleaned and defragged the registry ?

[sumter]

256MB of ram is barely enough for XP to call home, let alone run any apps.
I have 256

When was the last time you defragged the HDD ?
... every 3 days automatically using System Mechanic

When was the last time you did a clean install of XP ?
... about 2 months ago

Do you like to install and try out new software ?
'''' yes

When was the last time you cleaned and defragged the registry ?
.... System Mechanic also does that every day.


The only thing I am deficient in in processor speed and I am gong to fix that when I get my computer back from the shop with a new motherboard and a better CPU. Then I will slide my movies over to it and seee if that does a better job.

Sandy

[jagabo]

Change the video Overlay setting.

[sumter]

kschang wrote: while VLC can handle MPEG4/DIVX/XVID, it actually handles XVID best, with proper video/audio sync and all that.

I downloaded VLC, played a video that had previously stumbled and with the new player it played perfectly.

Now, as for things running the background, let me say that even with DSL I have to set msconfig to start selective startup and run boot.ini as /noguibot. The only things that starts autmatically is system services, and most of these are set to disabled. In msconfig/startup I have one item checked.

When I really want speed I go in safe mode with networking. I just wish I could figure out a way to run in safe mode and resize the windows.

Sandy

[kschang]

You really REALLY need more memory. It sounds like you bought one of those Christmas specials off CompUSA, a VERY basic config computer.

XP really needs at least 512MB of RAM to run, 1024MB is even better, esp. when you're doing any sort of multimedia.

At some point, you just have to throw a bit of money at it. Memory is cheap, so add some. You would be surprised at the amount of speed you gain, even in just general use.

[INFRATOM]

most of your problem is from your video card and resolution which is the screen size. if it was ok and now you have problem make sure you install the latest video driver for your video card. CPU and amount of RAM always helps. Did you change your monitor? what resolution do you have maybe your video card can't handles full screen at 1024X768 forexample go down one step. My suggestion is: do not spend money on an old computer save your upgrades until you hit $300 then build yourself a new computer. Good Luck