Why can't I watch videos anymore?

Question

When I got this computer - a not-new Gateway that had only XP SP1- and got the internet, I could could watch videos. Then I installed the Service pack 2, and IE 7; a week later, no videos. Someone suggested that it might be the browser, because I was having trouble changing pages too (kept getting "cannot find server" and "cannot display page") So I got Firefox. It's a little better...the pages connect and display more frequently...but still no videos. All I get now is a Quicktime placeholder. Someone please tell me if this is a Server problem, a browser problem, my computer, a bug (scanned pc and cleared it already)? I'm about ready to set this thing out on the curb, and the only thing pausing that thought is all the other people I've read who are having the same trouble. lol

Answer 1

you need a clean install of windows. backup your files to a seperate hard drive and then factory restore it. that's the best thing in the long run

a duct tape fix is to download avg antivirus (whihc is free) and run a nice big scan on it, then download spybot (also free) and scan it again

Answer 2

You say you get Quicktime placeholder,,,makes me wonder if your videos are mostly in AVI or REAL PLAYER format. It sounds to me like you are trying to play videos in the wrong format. Quicktime is an APPLE video player, SO your videos would have to be in APPLE or Quicktime format to play. Realplayer has its own format as does windows media player, and it can be a pain trying to play them on the wrong player, You may have to right click on your video open a dropdown menu that says "open with" and select the appropriate program. Or maybe you can try this but I dont think that Quictime stuff will play on VLC .

http://www.download.com/1770-2001_4-0.ht...

Download this and see if your videos play on VLC player, just something to try.

Answer 3

You need Adobe Flash Player to play videos on the Web.