Every time Mozilla updates itself, it renders Realplayer useless. I've tried reinstalling Realplayer but that hasn't worked on this occasion. (It did on a previpus update.) I prefer Mozilla over Internet Explorer so wonder why they go out of their way to make life awkward for users. I currently use Mozilla for general surfing but have to switch to IE if I want to download any video clips.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so - is there a solution? Other than having to constantly switch between browsers.

Thanks in advance.

James

Hi James,

Could you post back following this link to give us more information about your system please.

I don't know the exact answer to the issue you are having, but am really wondering why you would bother with RealPlayer as it is such a process hogger. You don't say anything about your system, but why not try Windows Media Player which works well on most Operating systems.

If you are set on keeping RealPlayer, you may like to access this link to Disable RealPlayer from starting up every time you boot your machine.

Have you got a thorough Maintenance Program to keep your computer running well? If not there is one at the bottom of this post for you to browse for assistance.

kind regards,

Hi Tallin,

Thanks for getting back to me. I have a Dell desktop, about 4 years old, running XP Home.

Though I have Windows Media Player installed and use it to play some videos etc, only Realplayer allows me to download most videos - from Youtube, for example, where I'm a sucker for clips of old TV programmes from way back!

I've just made WMP my default and restarted my computer to see if that helps, but if hasn't. I'm assuming WMP isn't as flexible as Realplayer, or is there something else I should be doing? I didn't really want to download yet another program as using Realplayer was so user-friendly.

In the meantime, thanks for the other links. I haven't been to them yet, but will do so now. I generally 'clean' my machine regularly, emptying cache/history, and using CCleaner to tidy things up.

My machine is painfully slow these days - I think I may have to revamp things completely in the new year. Being 4 years old, my machine's hard drive/memory etc are quite poor compared to more recent specifications.

Kind regards,

James

Thank you James for your system specs. So we can take a close look at your system configuration, please follow along below to post a PCPitstop scan for review. This will give me more of an idea just what is causing you grief with your system.

Please Run the PCPitstop Full Test here:

Note: Vista users with UAC must first Right-click IE - Select "Run as Administrator"
Register and create a password
Accept the ActiveX component to allow your machine to run the Full Tests
Registering and accepting the ActiveX are both SAFE and FREE.
Full Tests is the first item in the left hand column of that page.

The Full Tests take less than 5 minutes for most machines.
Once you have your Results, please post the TechExpress Link back here into this thread for review.
TechExpress is the sixth item on the list in the yellow box in upper right area of any Results page.
Post the entire URL link information back here into this Forum thread.

Note: Vista users, please close your instance of IE "Rrunning as Administrator" after you are finished reviewing your Results.

Caution: During the testing of Video Adapter, a variety of patterns, shapes, colors and text are “flashed” onto the users monitor screen. In the many thousands of daily uses of the PCPitstop Full Tests over several years, two individuals who suffer epilepsy experienced discomfort and temporary dizziness when viewing the flashing patterns.
If you know that you are susceptible to photo driven seizure, please look away from your screen during the Video Adapter testing sequence.

Note: The PCPitstop Full Tests Results is a free service, but is supported by various paid product advertisements for utilities that "could" remedy the OP's problem.
Since D-A-L is a "free-help" forum, we do not recommend or endorse purchase of automated utilities, and will assist you in manually correcting any problems and settings necessary to optimize your machine's performance. Ask your questions here. We'll help you walk through any necessary steps.

kind regards,

I thought I would mention (as it hasn't been covered yet in this thread), you _DO_ realize that you must use IE in order to download any Updates, SP,s etc from MS, right? That being said,,,,,,,

I use K-Lite Codec Pack 5.4.4 FULL (free) as my audio/video player. It works great on all media files I've run thus far. I've been using it for two/three years now.

SLOW MACHINE;(Realizing you've mentioned this....)
A good (free) "cleaner" for removing junk from your system is CCleaner. It also performs a "clean-up" pass on the registry.

CCleaner - Download
(Click on Download from FileHippo......, in the PayPal box)

When the next window opens, click "Download Latest Version" on the right of the page.

Alternate Download;
|MG| CCleaner Slim 2.26.1050 Download

Once you download and install it, open the program then click on (left hand side) OPTIONS, then COOKIES. Any cookies you want to save (trusted sites, places you have usernames/passwords), highlight them in the left column, then (using the directional arrows between the panes), move them to the right hand column under "Cookies to keep".

Still under Options, click on Advanced. Remove the check mark from the box for "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 48 hours".

Leave all other settings at the default.

Then click on Cleaner (on the top left). When that window opens, click on Run Cleaner (bottom right of the window.)

When it finishes, close CCleaner, and restart your machine. (Some files will not be deleted until a restart is performed.)

I do not advocate running CCleaner on each boot. I run it once or twice a week.


RegSeeker
Open it, click on Clean The Registry, then OK.

Once it's finished, along the bottom of the screen, click on Select, choose "Select All". Then click on Action, then "Delete selected items".

All deleted items will be backed up, just click OK for the default backup filenames/locations.

Close the program and restart the machine.

NOTE: This is a powerful tool. It has many other settings/tools/tweaks. Use more than what is mentioned above at your own volition/risk.


The cleanup of your system, and using these tools may yield good results.

Thanks for the advice/tips. I'll get back as soon as I can.

James

Another thought I came across - it maybe worth while downloading and installing VL Player to see if this effects a cure
Have a look above for the download. (Its free of charge, being "open source")

The problem with your RealPlayer or Win Media Player can sometimes be overcome by installing an up to date reliable codec or uninstalling the application, rebooting your machine and doing a clean up of the registry (Same procedure applies to Real) and then carrying out a reinstall of the two programs.... I use revo to uninstall all programs which is more thorough than uninstalling from Add and Remove in my opinion. Its a little bit of work to do....so you may be happy to just use RealLPlayer, (VL has a good reputation for being reliable, robust, and just doing the required job...

kind regards,