Freezing video, sound, with every video playback

Hey guys,

I've been having an issue with my laptop for quite some time now. Every video playback (youtube, dvd, avi files) are experiencing significant freezing and/or skipping, both with the video and the audio. I've tried multiple programs (WMP, VLC, etc), and am having the same issue.

The laptop is not the greatest machine, but It's relatively new, and so I figure it should be at least able to play DVDs without issue.

It's possible that it may not be a video-isolated occurrence. I've noticed some performance issues with other applications freezing, but never with the same frequency. Basically, I'm looking for advice on how to go about troubleshooting this, or perhaps some tools to run some logs and see what exactly is going on.

Here's some specs:
Windows 7 Hope Premium 64-bit
4G Ram
Intel Core i3 2.27GHz
Intel HD Graphics, Intel Display Audio (both onboard, I assume)

Any help would me much appreciated!
Thanks.

 

Sounds more like a corrupt Video driver to me!!

Download the free, Speccy http://majorgeeks.com/Speccy_d6358.html then run Speccy and click File > Save as Text File, then attach the log as per instructions below (note: as Speccy also now lists more data it likely will have your Windows licence serial key also in the log, so look for Operating System and under that Serial Number and delete the code and Save the log)

Then attach your log to your next post as per these instructions http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880

iain.t :major

 

Thanks for the prompt reply!

I've attached the .txt file as requested.

 

Sorry for not posting quicker, been quite busy on the home front .

Ok I have found the latest version Video driver for your system hopefully this will stop the issues that you having with playback ...... start> rightclick computer> properties> system protection(topleft of screen)> create > apply> ok. click out to download driver.......

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...&keyword="Mobile+Intel®+HD+Graphics"&lang=eng

download and install as per prompted by install .... it is essential that you reboot after the install has finished!!!

let me know howyou get on!!

 

Thanks again for the help. Instructions followed, but it looks as though the driver isn't the correct one. See the attached screenshot. I'll see if I can scour to find the right one, and I'll let you know how I get on.

 

The intel site redirected me to the vendor (Toshiba), and I entered the model number of the laptop to get the latest drivers. I installed them, rebooted, and unfortunately am still getting the same freezing issues.

I've included the updated speccy text file.

As always, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

If you want to use the stock Intel drivers from their website, you need the zip version.
Extract the zip somewhere, Location does not matter (desktop would be best)
Go into Device Manager, (type Device Manager in the windows search bar)
Click Display Adapters and Intel HD Graphics.
Go to the tab labeled "Drivers"
Click "Update Drivers" and "Browse my computer for drivers"
Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers"
Click the Have Disk Button,
Navigate to where your extracted drivers are and go into the directory labeled "Graphics"
Select the file named "igdlh.INF"
Click on the OK button and then click Next, the drivers should install
After that you need to reboot, and after rebooting your drivers should be updated.

here is the zip version of the newest intel hd driver.....

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20038&lang=eng

follow the instructions as above.

iain.t :major

 

All done. New driver installed, and again rebooted system.

Again, the issue still seems to be there, with multiple videos freezing for a few seconds. Possible it's not a driver issue?

 

Are you still under warranty with Toshiba ?? if so then I would suggest contacting them to see if there has been any others with similar issues, they them selves may have a patch for this !!

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/navShell.jsp?cf=su_contact

iain.t :major

 

Warranty expired just over a month ago (isn't that how it always is? ). I'll continue hunting around for solutions, and post on the Toshiba boards to see if anyone else has had similar issues.

 

Sorry that I couldn't be of anymore assistance to your issue, I will take a look around my self and see if anyone has had a similar issue and what fix worked for them .

iain.t :major

 

Absolutely not, I appreciate the help. I'll post back here if I find the cause and/or solution.

 

I've done some more digging, and it seems that the issue may POSSIBLY be related to CPU spiking.

I've downloaded ProcessExplorer and have scoured the performance graphs. I've included a couple of screenshots to show some curious findings. Think either of these may be the cause?

(1. CPU spiking at regular intervals)
(2. Nearly full GPU Dedicated Memory. I'm not very familiar with this though, so perhaps this is normal, and it overflows into the shared mem when necessary?)

 

That seems a lot of CPU usage, are you running any resource hungry app's that could be the cause of this?? what did you have running when you took these readings?? have you checked for malware/virus infection as this can have this effect on a machine, I would go through the malware removal process for your OS here....

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

try to do all of the steps and scans for your OS and post logs in the requested order like this.....

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880

it will take a bit of time but it could be an answer to the spikes, no harm done in trying,there is also the plus side of knowing for sure that the machine is in fact clean .

 

Well, awesome. I hate it when this happens. The problem seems to be resolved.

The issue was still happening, so I decided to error-check the hard drive on reboot (chkdsk). It took a WHILE (about 1 1/2 hours), and I packed up the laptop to bring it to work to troubleshoot.

When I get to work to duplicate the issue, it's fixed. While I'm ecstatic that it's resolved, it kills me not knowing what the actual cause was. Is it possible that there were bad sectors, and they were impacting the video driver perhaps? I don't know.

Regardless, thanks for your assistance throughout!

 

Great that you got the issue resolved, so running chkdsk seems to corrected it ?? I would run a drive diagnostic tool to see if there is anything to be worried about ?? I know Toshiba do a 3year warranty on HDD's so you still should be covered.....

Toshiba does not provide diagnostic tools for hard drives, currently.

Hard Disk Drives and Optical Disk Drives purchased as part of a complete system are warranted by the system OEM. Please contact your system manufacturer for further details. 2.5" Hard Disk Drive ("HDD") products purchased in the United States and Canada from Toshiba authorized distributors carry a 3-year limited warranty. 1.8" Hard Disk Drive ("HDD") products purchased in the United States and Canada from Toshiba authorized distributors carry a 1-year limited warranty. Optical Disk Drive("ODD") products purchased in the United States and Canada from Toshiba authorized distributors carry a 1-year limited warranty. Toshiba's USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive carries a 1-year limited warranty.

For warranty service, please contact ... http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/navShell.jsp?cf=su_contact

you could run tests with this.....

http://majorgeeks.com/Seagate_SeaTools_for_Windows_d2858.html

and this .....

http://majorgeeks.com/HDDScan_for_Windows_d6321.html

check to see if there are any difference in the bench marks of these two tools.

iain.t :major