• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Video buffering.

Robert said:
That video of mine playing fine rules out router restrictions.

All I'm left with is something blocking your access to those 2 sites. That means anti virus software or firewall... or malware.

You've done malware scans so probably not that. try turning off your anti virus software and try youtube.
Click to expand...
But surely if something was blocking access then Mike would never see anything from those sites? But he does albeit with difficulty.
 
There comes a point when the time wasted fixing things without success becomes too expensive in opportunity cost. With a full back up, ideally doubled up and isolated, a re-install looks tempting. Is a PC even the optimal solution now. Laptops are so powerful and portable that the ability to work not tied to a big black lump may become attractive when a big screen is not needed as long as the big screen(s) connect to the laptop solution.
 
RogerS said:
But surely if something was blocking access then Mike would never see anything from those sites? But he does albeit with difficulty.
Click to expand...

True. Maybe almost blocking :)

I like the new user creation idea. worth a try.
 
As a general note to all...when was the last time you checked that you could actually recover from your backup copy ? Note to self.....must check my recovery is working
 
To be fair I am OTT with this. I run the main computer and two laptops, fully cloud synced and two completely separate back up drives. Nothing really important is stored on any machine which travels with me.
 
If I replace the drive in a laptop or PC for something larger I always use my regular backup to restore onto the new drive. Worked every time... so far.
 
click on the search bar at the bottom and type - cmd <ENTER>

The when it open up the DOS window type : ping -t www.youtube.com <ENTER>

It will start pinging the website. I want to see what the latency is from your machine and whether there is any delay or packet loss. This is sounding more and more like an issue with your NIC, and as Adrian says above, that screen of Youtube homepage suggests slowness in loading and rendering the HTML of the page.

Once that ping has been running for 60 seconds press ctrl+c which will stop it. Then please either screenshot the DOS window or copy and paste the pings AND the summary results at the bottom into here please.

It will look something like this (a little different in the summary because this is on my Mac).


mark@apples-iMac ~ % ping www.youtube.com

PING youtube-ui.l.google.com (142.250.187.206): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=33 ttl=117 time=21.981 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=34 ttl=117 time=23.328 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=35 ttl=117 time=22.137 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=36 ttl=117 time=19.368 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=37 ttl=117 time=21.247 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=38 ttl=117 time=16.672 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=39 ttl=117 time=20.412 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=40 ttl=117 time=21.668 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=41 ttl=117 time=20.096 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=42 ttl=117 time=27.584 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=43 ttl=117 time=29.005 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=44 ttl=117 time=28.740 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=45 ttl=117 time=27.292 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=46 ttl=117 time=30.902 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=47 ttl=117 time=24.853 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=48 ttl=117 time=35.512 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=49 ttl=117 time=19.331 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=50 ttl=117 time=28.849 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=51 ttl=117 time=25.111 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=52 ttl=117 time=24.402 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=53 ttl=117 time=24.789 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=54 ttl=117 time=25.539 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=55 ttl=117 time=29.786 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=56 ttl=117 time=27.115 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=57 ttl=117 time=27.450 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=58 ttl=117 time=28.046 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=59 ttl=117 time=29.174 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=60 ttl=117 time=25.931 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=61 ttl=117 time=20.088 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=62 ttl=117 time=21.673 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=63 ttl=117 time=27.409 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=64 ttl=117 time=21.602 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=65 ttl=117 time=21.249 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=66 ttl=117 time=17.853 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=67 ttl=117 time=22.889 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=68 ttl=117 time=23.928 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=69 ttl=117 time=24.642 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=70 ttl=117 time=20.169 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=71 ttl=117 time=20.230 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=72 ttl=117 time=20.051 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=73 ttl=117 time=20.675 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=74 ttl=117 time=22.149 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=75 ttl=117 time=33.953 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=76 ttl=117 time=18.028 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=77 ttl=117 time=25.247 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=78 ttl=117 time=20.512 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=79 ttl=117 time=19.627 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=80 ttl=117 time=21.294 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=81 ttl=117 time=28.982 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=82 ttl=117 time=20.260 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=83 ttl=117 time=33.010 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=84 ttl=117 time=21.816 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=85 ttl=117 time=21.128 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=86 ttl=117 time=36.224 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=87 ttl=117 time=25.954 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=88 ttl=117 time=25.139 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=89 ttl=117 time=22.023 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=90 ttl=117 time=21.692 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=91 ttl=117 time=22.137 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=92 ttl=117 time=22.025 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=93 ttl=117 time=22.050 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=94 ttl=117 time=26.984 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=95 ttl=117 time=30.241 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=96 ttl=117 time=30.960 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=97 ttl=117 time=38.130 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=98 ttl=117 time=23.643 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=99 ttl=117 time=24.458 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=100 ttl=117 time=20.541 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=101 ttl=117 time=212.594 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=102 ttl=117 time=21.004 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=103 ttl=117 time=31.279 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=104 ttl=117 time=19.599 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.187.206: icmp_seq=105 ttl=117 time=18.777 ms

^C
--- youtube-ui.l.google.com ping statistics ---

106 packets transmitted, 106 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 16.672/27.797/212.594/19.317 ms
 
Last edited:
Windows said:
Mike, can you confirm that when you hit issues, you see the problem in both Opera and Firefox on your machine at the same time?
Click to expand...

Not just that, but the same issue occurs with Google Chrome.

Windows said:
Do you have any other machines in your house with Windows 10 & Firefox or Windows 10 & Opera?
Click to expand...

My wife's laptop runs W10 and Chrome, and she is reporting no issues.......although I haven't sat down with her machine to have a look myself.

Windows said:
I wouldn’t recommend wiping and reinstalling your entire OS at this stage. You should at least try
1) creating a new profile in your browser of choice
2) creating a new local operating system account
if you haven’t already tried them
Click to expand...
I haven't tried either of those options..........but I'm somewhat sceptical about what 1/ would achieve as the issue is occuring on 3 browsers........unless Toutube and Facebook have blacklisted me for some reason. I don't understand 2/ at all. What's a "local operating system"?
 
AJB Temple said:
Is a PC even the optimal solution now. Laptops are so powerful and portable that the ability to work not tied to a big black lump may become attractive when a big screen is not needed as long as the big screen(s) connect to the laptop solution.
Click to expand...
I can't draw without a mouse and a big screen. I don't particularly care what the black box looks like so long as it enables me to run a big screen, a mouse, and it doesn't sit on my desk. A laptop would work if it fitted that criteria, but........they don't work unless they're open, and an open lap-top would take up a lot more of the available real-estate here than a PC. There's another silly little thing, too. I use a mini-keyboard (without the array of numbers to the side which most keyboards have), and this allows my mouse-mat to sit closer to me. This is important when drawing (particularly when drawing all day), as you have one hand on the keyboard, and the other on the mouse.

Given all this, I think a PC is still probably the best bet for my somewhat unusual needs, and although it would be nice to have the option of sitting in the garden to draw, a laptop screen is just too small.
 
TrimTheKing said:
click on the search bar at the bottom and type - cmd <ENTER>
.........
Click to expand...
I'll do this after lunch, Mark, thanks. I've just had some seriously dentistry, so I may need a lay-down, but will do it as soon as I can.
 
Mike G said:
...they don't work unless they're open, and an open lap-top would take up a lot more of the available real-estate here than a PC...
Click to expand...
Not strictly true Mike, it's a configurable setting.

The default when you close the laptop lid is the laptop will go to sleep. If you have an external monitor and you have set your laptop to 'do nothing' when you close the lid, then you can close the lid and the external monitor will still work.

That being said, I don't believe we're in 'new machine' territory here just yet.
 
You would not need to use the laptop keyboard Mike. The laptop would just be a hub that you can take anywhere, for example watching videos in bed. Bluetooth keyboards, trackpads, mice, Wacom + pen all connect via bluetooth. No need to use the desk for laptop at all, though it might be helpful to one side as a second screen.
 
TrimTheKing said:
Did it open up a black DOS window with white text?
Click to expand...
Yes, and I've just run it again........

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5011]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Mike>ping -t www.youtube.com

Pinging youtube-ui.l.google.com [216.58.201.110] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118
Reply from 216.58.201.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 216.58.201.110:
Packets: Sent = 66, Received = 66, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 8ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 9ms
Control-C
^C
C:\Users\Mike>
 
Okay, that's all good then, latency low at 9ms and no lost packets, so the issue isn't with your network card, unfortunately.

That pushes it back to something that the machine is doing, or not doing.
 
This might be another clue. Maybe a third of the times I try to open Youtube I get this message:

Screenshot 2024-10-10 at 13-42-55 YouTube.png

I am of course connected to the internet at the time, and refreshing the browser normally sorts thing immediately.
 
I think you need to try booting your machine into 'safe mode' with Networking, which will run it at the bare bones of Windows. Then test browsing as all background 'stuff' will be disabled. That will tell you whether an update or app is causing the issue.

Guide on how to do safe mode here...

Windows startup settings - Microsoft Support

Learn how to change Windows startup settings, including enabling Safe Mode.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com
 
Mike G said:
This might be another clue. Maybe a third of the times I try to open Youtube I get this message:

View attachment 29200

I am of course connected to the internet at the time, and refreshing the browser normally sorts thing immediately.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, this definitely feels like a connectivity issue, albeit intermittent.

Run the ping again and leave it running for ages. If you see that error above again, have a look at the DOS window and see if you're getting any dropped packets in the ping, then report back.
 
Does that one third of times also happen with ethernet rather than wireless connection to the router? I suggested a while back that the wifi card may be at fault in the PC. Are you sure it has not been dislodged and so making an intermittent connection. Perhaps worsened when you vacuumed the PC out?
 
TrimTheKing said:
Run the ping again and leave it running for ages. If you see that error above again, have a look at the DOS window and see if you're getting any dropped packets in the ping, then report back.
Click to expand...

I had the DOS screen running and opened Youtube (after another crash). It went to the screen we were talking about before (all text and big lettering).......and nothing showed up in the "ping" results at all. No change of speeds, no dropped packets.
 
AJB Temple said:
Does that one third of times also happen with ethernet rather than wireless connection to the router? I suggested a while back that the wifi card may be at fault in the PC. Are you sure it has not been dislodged and so making an intermittent connection. Perhaps worsened when you vacuumed the PC out?
Click to expand...
Possible, but I'd be surprised if the Wi-Fi NIC was a separate card. They've been onboard for 15 years or more.
 
Mike G said:
I had the DOS screen running and opened Youtube (after another crash). It went to the screen we were talking about before (all text and big lettering).......and nothing showed up in the "ping" results at all. No change of speeds, no dropped packets.
Click to expand...
Okay good, leave the ping running for ages, I want to see if you get any packet loss at all over the course of a couple of hours.

This behaviour tends towards the OS/browser again.

Follow the instructions to boot into safe mode and try the browser then. This will disable all add-ons, ad blockers etc and prove whether it's one of those causing it.
 
AJB Temple said:
Does that one third of times also happen with ethernet rather than wireless connection to the router? I suggested a while back that the wifi card may be at fault in the PC. Are you sure it has not been dislodged and so making an intermittent connection. Perhaps worsened when you vacuumed the PC out?
Click to expand...

I've left the ethernet cable attached. All this is now happening with a cabled connection, not a wifi connection.
 
As an aside, some of these DOS screens show TTL=118, and some of them show TTL=59. Does that mean anything?
 
Mike G said:
I've left the ethernet cable attached. All this is now happening with a cabled connection, not a wifi connection.
Click to expand...

If you haven't told your PC to disconnect from wifi it will still be using it even with an ethernet cable plugged in..

Oh and it will see the cable as a new network and may need telling it is a 'safe' home network.
 
Robert said:
If you haven't told your PC to disconnect from wifi it will still be using it even with an ethernet cable plugged in..

Oh and it will see the cable as a new network and may need telling it is a 'safe' home network.
Click to expand...
It did tell it to disconnect from Wifi.
 
TrimTheKing said:
Okay good, leave the ping running for ages, I want to see if you get any packet loss at all over the course of a couple of hours.

This behaviour tends towards the OS/browser again.

Follow the instructions to boot into safe mode and try the browser then. This will disable all add-ons, ad blockers etc and prove whether it's one of those causing it.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe there is light at the end of this long tunnel. In Safe Mode, Youtube played perfectly (albeit without any sound). Facebook also works.
 
Mike G said:
Well, maybe there is light at the end of this long tunnel. In Safe Mode, Youtube played perfectly (albeit without any sound). Facebook also works.
Click to expand...
Okay, that's good (kind of) as it tells you your connectivity is good. Now's the hard part, troubleshooting which update, add on etc is causing your issues.

What ad-blockers and AntiVirus or Malware do you have installed? I would start by disabling them one by one and testing in between. If it's possible to roll back on your last windows update maybe do that first.

Can't be of much more help than that from a specifics points of view, but that's what you need to do.
 
Mike G said:
As an aside, some of these DOS screens show TTL=118, and some of them show TTL=59. Does that mean anything?
Click to expand...
Nope, TTL (Time To Live) is just how long the ping packet will stay alive going around a network if there's a loop or issues, before a router will discard it, to stop stale or bad packets from clogging up the network. I don't know why they differ but it's not something for you to worry about.
 
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