slow video...

[TsunamiOfDeath]

when i try to watch avi files, the sound goes at normal speed but the image is very slow...
what should i do?

[sitlet]

sounds like your computer is too slow to me

[Werble]

Why don't you start by giving us the specs of your pc and the software you are using to give us an idea of what you are working with.

[TsunamiOfDeath]

i have:
266mhz, 160mb RAM, dont know wat everything else is cuz my cousin gave me this comp

its wierd though cuz i used to be able to watch avi files perfectly...

[Craig Tucker]

Close down any other programs that may be running. That is a pretty slow PC to be playing video particularly if it is high bitrate. If you are playing the vids from your hard drive try defragging it.

[TsunamiOfDeath]

i did try closing all programs and defragmenting but the results are the same
but it still doesnt explain why it used work before and not now...

[sitlet]

well not all avi files are alike. the one you are trying to play is probably a high quality, high bitrate video, and sorry to say but 266mhz is not fast enough for playing most video files.

[TsunamiOfDeath]

umm... old files that used to work normally no longer do...
so... can u think of a reason why that is?

[Werble]

what os are you running? If you upgraded to XP from, say, win98, then XP would be using more resources. Thus would cause a slow down. Just a thought.

[TsunamiOfDeath]

i use win2000

[sitlet]

a 266mhz computer is pretty old. video needs a lot of processing power to work correctly. while you computer was able to play avi's before, it was probably using most, if not all of the processing power. if you want to try to play videos on this computer, i would suggest:

-remove any programs that you dont need
-remove any programs that are running at startup that are not needed (hit ctrl-alt-del in windows to see what programs are running. close down anything thats not needed to run the computer)
-clean out your hard drive of any old/not needed files
-defrag the hard drive (you already did, but doing it again wont hurt)
-what video player are you using? most newer video players, like windows media player, use a lot of processing power just to run the program. try getting a hold of an older version of a media player that will run better on your computer.


if none of that works, im afraid your computer just isnt up to par for playing videos. i myself have a pentium 2 300mhz desktop that i just use for word processing and things. i can barely play any video files on that thing. only low resolution videos will play good.

[TsunamiOfDeath]

i see...
well thanks for your help
i should probably get a new comp then...

[sitlet]

thats what i would recommend. if your short on cash, maybe look into buying a used one, or get one at a swap meet/trading convention. digital video is fairly new and requires a good processor. if your looking into a used computer, i would go with at least a pentium3 1ghz computer.