Problem watching dvds...

ok..well..lately...when i'm watching dvds on my laptop...somewhere in the middle of the movie..it lags sooo badly...and then after 1-10 min. of the lagging, the movie returns to normal and i can watch it properly...is there anything i could do to fix it??...and idk if this helps or not...but i'm watching it on cyberlink powerdvd...i don't know if there are problems on that...and i'm always plugged in to an outlet...and my specs are in my signature...thanks

 

Well it sounds like you've got a bloatware problem and something is using up your resources, I know Dell's come with tons so I would suggest following SG's reformat sticky and starting fresh.

 

i don't think it is...cuz it's only been happening for the last couple of days...last week or 2 i was watching movies just fine on my laptop

 

Do you have alot of things running while you are watching this? like AIM, word program, Outlook, etc....

Have you installed anything lately? Is this happening with any DVD or just a particular one?

SG

 

yea...i had aim running..do u think i should tuurn that off while watching??

 

Well i've seen some delay when you are getting messages, but it could be anything. Its most likely some software running in the background which is why Anubis suggested a clean install. If you still have all of the junk software on there, it could be that.

Since you only have 512mb RAM, probably are maximizing out on RAM with other programs running in the background. Right now i'm using 578 with just a few things on.

 

Luck,

Are you playing the DVD's straight from your DVD drive or from your HDD? If it's from your HDD (not talking about piracy, backup of purchased dvd's when you're on the go), you shouldn't have any problems as I do this with my nx8220 (PM 1.73 w/512MB). But, if you're playing from your DVD drive, it could be the drive itself that could be the problem. There could be a sync/buffer problem with the drive. Maybe it's not tracking properly when drive tracks to a certain area.

If you can, try backing up your DVD onto your HDD and see if there's any lag. If there is, it's probably a software problem. If no, then it still could be software, but then you also have the possibility of a hardware problem (DVD drive).

-Vb-

 

i'm playing it from the dvd drive..and i'll try backing it up and playing it from the hard drive and let u know if the problem persists...it's not that bad...it only lags for a short amount of time for a few minutes...thanks again

 

You said this happens towards the middle of the DVD, so this could be a moving from one layer to another issue, which the drive is also to blame. A playback of a backup should make the diagnosis

 

what do u mean "moving from one layer to another"??

 

when the movie switches to the other layer. haven't u ever noticed a really quick lag on a normal dvd player ?

 

It's doubtful it's the lag from a layer change. A layer change will give a quick (1 sec) pause, but LuckMC11's issue goes for 1-10mins before going back to normal.

After Luck runs the DVD from his HDD this will tell if it's a software or hardware problem.

-Vb-

 

ok...well..i restarted my computer...and the problem was fixed ...i think i just had to restart it more often...i always put it on standby or hibernation mode all the time...and i guess that was the problem...i didn't rip it to the hard drive yet tho...but i don't need to..i guess...there was no lags this time at all ...thanks for all your help

 

I guess going into hibernation/standby could cause this type of problem. When you go into these modes, the contents in memory get transfered to HDD. When it wakes up, it transfers everything back to memory. Maybe in the transfer back & forth, something was getting corrupt. I usually recommend shutting down when not in use, it's a lot better/safer, but it's good to see that the problem's resolved.

-Vb-

 

so you're saying not to put it into hibernation/sleep modes when not in use??...and 2 completely shut it down??...thanks for that tip...i'll keep that in mind

 

ok...the problem came back again...and i found out what the cause of the problem was....it was the "System Idle Process" in windows task manager...it was using up b/w 95-99% of my CPU ...any1 know how to make it so that the system idle process doesn't use up over 95% of the CPU??...thanks

 

System Idle Process just indicates % idle, not % of CPU that is being utilized by all other processes to do tasks. When a PC is idle, System Idle Process would be 98%-99%. When the PC is under load (i.e. like running CPU intensive programs such as Prime95), % System Idle Process is lower. When CPU utilization is 100%, System Idle Process is 0%.

 

ooo...well...i went on the internet to post this problem..i paused the movie...and when i checked the system idle process...it was like in the high 80s and low 90s...and then i started to watch the movie..and it was lagging like i said b4...but only for like less than 40 seconds or so..and then it stopped..and i started the movie at 45 min into it and the whole movie is 2 hours long...idk if that would help solving it or not

 

Luck,

Since the problem still exists, try running the DVD from HDD rather than disc. If the problem goes away, it's your optical drive that is causing a lag. If the problem is still there, then it's possibly a software/codec problem (most likely an OS problem).

-Vb-

 

i watched another movie last night from my HDD...and there were no lags in it...what should i do about the optical drive now??....i don't wanna send it in...even if that's my only option..i'm not sending it in

 

Have you tried using different DVD player software yet? I use PowerDVD 5.0, it's really good. Just for the heck of it, try playing a DVD in Windows Media Player, see if the same thing happens.

 

well..i watched the movie from the dvd in cyberlink 6.0 or 5.0...the 1 that came with my laptop...and that's where the lags happened...and with the ripped movie compressed onto the HDD...i used windows media player with it...do u think that i should play a DVD from the optical drive with windows media player??

 

Luck,

I see your signature indicates you have a Dell, is this the units that is causing the problems or is it a different one?

Regarding your previous poist just above, what happens when playing the movies from HDD using Power DVD? If it works fine, then there's a problem playing from your optical drive. Playing the DVD from HDD just makes Windows Media Player use PowerDVD's MPEG2 codec. WMP doesn't have it's own MPEG2 codec, so the problem shouldn't make a difference when playing on your optical, but it doesn't hurt to try.

You need to find out why your optical drive is causing the problem, is it a hardware problem or is it software?

I'd go and reload the OS from sctratch and see if that resolves the problem (you can try uninstalling/disabling other stuff, but I like to test with a clean OS since you don't know if it's a problem with a mix of settings/apps/drivers in your system.

If after the reload (manual, not from restore CD) it still has the problem, then it's the physical drive itself and you need to get it replaced (the drive may be user removable/replaceable), check online or in the manual. If it's removable, you can just have Dell (if that's the brand) send you a new drive. If not, then you'll have to send it in for service to get repaired.

-Vb-

 

Dont mean to answer for luck but it is his laptop

 

i didn't try playing a movie ripped from a DVD with powerdvd yet...when i try that and see if it works that way...then i'll just continue to rip the movie to the HDD and play it from there..and i'll also try watching a movie from the optical drive with windows media player...and i played a movie from the HDD with VLC media player...and there was no lags or anything there either ...thanks for all the advice