There’s a couple things to check for if your computer freezes when watching youtube videos.
As a computer tech, the first thing I would ask is… Does it freeze when you are playing games or watching dvd’s as well? My initial thoughts are that it could be a problem when the computer is at high CPU or GPU usage.
The first thing to diagnose would be software. Sometimes you can fix the problem by simply updating your software drivers. Specifically your graphics card driver. There is a very cool utility you can download to check your system for outdated drivers called Driver Detective. It’s a good idea to keep your drivers up to date anyway.
Another quick thing you can do is open your computer case and make sure your graphics card fan or heatsink is not buried in dust. This will most definitely cause your hardware to overheat very fast. Be careful when you blow it out. Do yourself a favor and take the box outside before you start blasting out your lungs and fill your room with dust.
Another thing you can try is increasing your page file size. Open up control panel, System, Advanced, Performance, Settings, Advanced, and under the Virtual Memory heading, click Change. Depending how much disk space you have will depend on how high you can set this value. Increase the Initial and Maximum size to no more than 60% of your available space value.
If you have updated your drivers, cleaned out the dust gathering in your case, and tried increasing your page file settings, then try downloading a reputable registry cleaner application to scan your computer for anything that might be causing software or hardware problems. Some of these applications will also be able to help you disable unnecessary applications that are loading when windows starts and slowing down your computer. I know Regcure is able to do that.
These are some quick things you can do to fix any software issues that might be causing problems before you get into the heavy stuff of pulling out and testing hardware components.
If you liked this article or you would like me to write more about other software or hardware tests you can do, then write a comment below.
wow it,s really awesome tip MIKE you’re genius thanks
Mind saving me some trouble and telling me how to do this technique on Windows 7? everythings screwy
Wow!!! Mike you are “FREAKING FANTASTIC”!!! I am a person who usually has to call up his much, MUCH younger nephew to help me with my computer questions. However after following you simple computer tip, my youtube videos do not freeze up anymore. Thanks for the “GREAT” help.
Vic.
Thanks Mike. I had forgotten that I had set my page file very low a while back because of a tip I received regarding streaming music samples. Once I reset it to the suggested amount the computer stopped freezing on Youtube videos.
Mike,
Thank you so much. Increasing the page file size worked! “Currently allocated” was set way below “Recommended”. I had 913,385MB available but only 8,000MB was specified in the “Initial size” box, whereas 12,217MB was recommended. I upped “Initial size” to 24,000MB and “Maximum size” to 45,000MB. ***** Warning: check your “space available” and follow Mike’s rule of “Maximum size” no more than 60% of available******
So far so good, I was freezing up like mad – used your page file size tip and everything is working again. Thanks also for keeping the instructions easy for technophobes like me. You are a computer hero sir.
Thanks I will try it. I suspect it has to do with disc space settings as sometimes a video will automatically return to start. Maybe it reached max space. Other times it seems to lock up for however long the video would have been if I chose to watch it all the way through. In that case I have to Control/Alt/Delete/End Task or Log Off.
I already know my problem, but no one else seems to experience it. Either that, or I just can’t seem to find it online anywhere. You know how sometimes the video will stop after a? second and ask you if you would rather watch with an ad in the beginning or so many commercial interruptions? The video always freezes when it’s supposed to be asking that (I know it’s supposed to ask because it works fine on the pc at my parents house). The audio keeps playing, but the video freezes at wherever it was when the choices are supposed to pop up. Then, I can skip to anywhere in the video and it will only show the picture that it froze on in the beginning. Can you please help?
Ok, i’ve been searching for a while now and it seems nobody seems to have my kind of youtube freezing. So, imagine this, fresh new awesome computer I5, Asus AMD HD6770 1gb graphics card, 16Gb RAM, with of course fresh windows installation.
So how is this pssible for youtube to freeze? It is not connector problem of video card since i played Crysis on maximum settings, Flash is of course installed and Page file size you can imagine is by default 16Gb out of 1Tb.
Any hint? Thanks.
hi i wonder if you could
advise me with this youtube video jerking and freezing
i have looked at the things you suggest but still get this problem
i am on a fresh window install win 7 (64bit)
page size is (min) 16
max 4222
thanks for any help
tony
Changing virtual memory size did the trick. I can watch youtube videos without interruptions now. Thanks very much for you help!
Hi Mike,
I am browsing and watching the youtube videos and the other stuff in chrome. after sometime if i am trying to watch the new video in youtube, the browser is not functioning by showing page cannot be displayed…but my internet connection is fine & i can ping google.com in cmd & my virtual memory initial size is 1512 and maximum size is 3024 mb…i need to restart the system and after that it is working for sometime and again the same issue when i watch youtube videos…could you please help me out