Online videos won't play correctly or at all

[TheSaw]

Hello,

I can't get to the bottom of this old problem, and I don't know what else can I try before reinstalling Windows. I've tried searching for solutions in vain, as similar problems are many, and all have various roots. So I turn to you for help:

Symptoms:
They change from day to day and from website to website. I can't explain it. On some days it works without problems, on others it behaves likes this:
Vimeo: complete black, no sound, position marker not moving, system frozen for several seconds
Facebook videos: either black and whole system frozen for a few seconds, or very dark, pixelated but playing, and then it turns to normal in ~5 seconds. (Example of playing, but dark video: http://imgur.com/V8bIafY )
Youtube: not affected, or very rarely. 99% of the time it works, 1% black screen with sound, gets back to normal in ~15 seconds.
other flash websites: some of them also turn black and back.

System:
Win10 x64, all browsers are affected.

Additional info:
I *think* it all started when I installed Potplayer. It might have installed some video drivers that could do this. I've tried clearing browser cache, different browser, disabling HW acceleration, removing and reinstalling the player, etc.

Any idea of how to fix my codecs would be greatly appreciated.
If you need any additional details to debug, tell me and I'll update with info.
Thank you!

[hech54]

Update your browser video plugins?

[TheSaw]

Update your browser video plugins?

How do I do that? Are there some plugins for all browsers? Don't they take care of themselves?

[theewizard]

did you try a boot up to safe mode
and then system restore to a date when everything worked correctly

also
i've learned from experience to run an install monitor like Ashampoo installer/uninstaller
for every install

very helpful if some piece of software changes things,
it records all file entries and regestry changes

using the uninstall removes those changes and resets things

sometimes saves the need for a system restore, or file replacement

[TheSaw]

did you try a boot up to safe mode
and then system restore to a date when everything worked correctly

I have no restore points

[Bernix]

You can try ccleaner. It is free, and it can helps in such problems. If I were you I would at least try it.

Bernix

[hech54]

For Firefox - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/

[TheSaw]

Tried CCleaner, disabled/reenabled Chrome plugins, uninstaled/reinstalled PotPlayer, no changes. Any other ideas?

[hech54]

I've long since forgotten what I did to solve my online video playing problems.
Just guessing here!
Abobe Flash?
ffdshow?
VLC?
x264vfw?

[Bernix]

And have you 64bit browsers, or 32 bit browsers ?

[TheSaw]

And have you 64bit browsers, or 32 bit browsers ?

Installed 64 bit chrome now. Installed x264vfw and ffdshow. Disabled Adobe flash and Widevine Content Decryption Module plugins.
Everything the same, facebook video looks like this:

http://imgur.com/neEWPAX

[Bernix]

I am hopeless. If all browsers are affected, there must be some major problem. Try install in firefox html5-video-everywhere add on. It supports sites you mentioned, so maybe it will help. But I really dont know.
Sorry

Bernix

[TheSaw]

Thanks for your help so far!
Can you recommend a forum where I could ask about this? Advanced video/codec stuff, how to debug it?