My HP Pavilion g7 Notebook PC stopped playing videos online

[Holistivet]

After installing updates from Microsoft, my HP Pavilion g7 Notebook PC (Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit) stopped playing videos.

If I try to play a video on YouTube, the following error message appears:  An error occurred. Please try again later.  If I try to play a video on another website, nothing happens.

I tried a system restore and regained the ability to watch videos - until I installed updates.  (Trying System Restore worked a couple of times, but no longer.)  Now, there are no system restore points that work to restore the ability to watch videos online.  (I can still watch videos that are saved on my hard drive.)

Any suggestions?  Thanks!

[DavidPK]

Hi,

Try running through the guide by Daniel_Potyrala on the link below to completely uninstall and then reinstall the Flash Player Plug-in.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Display-and-Video/The-solution-to-most-problems-with-the-Flash...

Regards,

DP-K

[Holistivet]

Hello David,

Thanks for your quick reply and the suggestion. 

I uninstalled Flash Player and re-installed it (twice just to make sure I did it right), but I still can't play videos.

Is there something else I can do?

Thanks!

Bert

[DavidPK]

Hi Bert,

You're welcome

Try the following.

First of all, download and run the Shockwave uninstaller on the link below.

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/shockwave/uninstall/win/sw_uninstaller.exe

After this has completed, restart the notebook.

When windows has fully reloaded, download and install the latest version of Shockwave on the following link.

http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

Again, after this installation, restart the notebook.

Has this made any difference to the issue?

Regards,

DP-K

[Holistivet]

Hi David,

Thanks for sticking with me. 

I uninstalled Shockwave, and restarted the computer.  (I didn't klnow SW was even ON my computer.)

Then I reinstalled Shockwave, and restarted the computer.

Still can't play a video.

Yipes.

Bert

[Holistivet]

Hi David,

Hope this isn't a repeat.  Sorry if so.

I tried the Shockwave (uninstall/restart/reinstall/restart) but still can't watch videos.

Is there something else I can try?

Thanks again!

Bert

[DavidPK]

Hi Bert,

If you#re using Internet Explorer, try resetting it as follows - be aware that this will remove Bookmarks and Saved Passwords etc.

Open windows Control Panel, open Internet Options, click the Advanced tab and then click the Reset button.  Click 'Yes' or 'Ok' to any further prompts required to complete the process.

Regards,

DP-K

[Holistivet]

Hi David,

(We must stop meeting like this. :-)  )

Actually, I was having the problem in Mozilla's Firefox.  So, I checked to see if the same problem happens in Internet Explorer.  :-0 (Red Face) I was able to view a YouTube video on Internet Explorer, so the problem must be in Firefox.

So, I reset Firefox  (You reset from within the program.  There is a nice feature in that it saves bookmarks, passwords, etc.) and restarted Firefox.

Result:  Still can't view videos with Firefox.

I was thinking of uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling it.  It scares me to think about all the bazillion bookmarks and passwords I might lose if uninstalling erases them.

One last thought:  Could there be a Java conflict in Firefox.  (I'm ignorant enough so that I don't even know if this question makes sense.)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Bert

[Velenoso]

I was thinking of uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling it.  It scares me to think about all the bazillion bookmarks and passwords I might lose if uninstalling erases them.

It scares me to think you wouldn't know that you could import all those bazillion bookmarks and passwords to say IE and then import or export them back ocne you've reinstalled again.

[Holistivet · Accepted solution]

Hi David,

I'm betting you would be absolutely HORRIFIED by what I don't know about this stuff.  (Thanks for the reminder.  I will use IE as a "Back-Up" from now on.

Besides the one for my ignorance, I have another apology for you:  I have been wasting your time.

Turns out that once you helped me figure out that the whole problem was with Firefox, I was able to learn that others were having the same problem.

In case another computer challenged inquirer has this problem, here is the fix that worked for me:

If RealPlayer is installed, try this first
Turn off Web Download & Recording in RealPlayer

    Launch RealPlayer
    Click the RealPlayer icon in the upper left corner of the window and choose Preferences.
    Choose Download & Recording from the left hand panel
    Uncheck "Enable Web Download & Recording for these installed browsers"
    Click OK and close RealPlayer
    Restart Firefox

This will remove the RealPlayer Browser Record extension from the Firefox Add-ons Manager.
Tip: As an alternative to the RealPlayer Browser Record extension, you may want to try the Easy YouTube Video Downloader or one of the other amazing Firefox Add-ons.

Thanks for your time and your help!  Kudos!  Problem solved!

Bert