If your YouTube is slow, stuck or weird -- and people tell you
to change or install stuff -- DON'T TOUCH A THING.
You should always avoid tinkering around with java scripts,
firewall settings, flash players, anti-virus programs, activeX
controls, pop-up blockers, browsers or registries. And stay
away from useless add-ons, utilities or downloaders.
None of those things will help you, because your computer
and YouTube were working perfectly fine at one point, right?
The first rule of thumb and best option should ALWAYS be:
don't disable, erase, uninstall, separate, switch, download,
alter, install, change or add anything. Doing those will only
make matters worse for you.
Every single day, YouTube shuts down many of their servers
without telling anybody, in order to update stuff. Be patient
if your YouTube pages seem slow, stuck, screwy or garbled.
The transmission of a page is actually done in small chunks
of "flash", a little at a time. That's why sometimes you may
only see small bits and pieces of text and/or graphics. Your
problem may correct itself in a few hours or by the next day.
But if your YouTube is still stuck or displays strange things,
clear your "cache" of all temporary internet files, cookies and
history. Things will surely be better afterwards.
If you're not sure how to do this, or if you want extra tips on
how to make YouTube run even faster (all without having to
buy or install anything), then click my avatar and email me.
I will guide you through "cache" clearing plus my other tips
in easy English with full explanations.
[Note: if you have Google Web Accelerator, dump it, burn it,
trash it, disable it, uninstall it -- do everything you can to get
as far away from it as possible (even though this contradicts
my advice). Simply clicking "Don't Accelerate this Website"
will not help you whatsoever.
Note 2: longer videos sometimes only play smoothly when
both "flash" AND "shockwave" are installed. Other than that,
stay away from YouTube's beta homepage if you can, and
please avoid any stupid utilities or downloaders that people
here on Y!A may be shilling -- because their responses have
absolutely nothing to do with your problem, and their wares
may actually make your problem worse. Besides, what kind
of a boffo answer is...."Although you can't access videos or
watch them properly, get this downloader."
Note 3: oddly enough, a weird solution that once worked for
me was changing the URL site from "www . youtube . com"
to just simply "youtube . com".]
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I use Internet Explorer 6, but if you have Firefox 2, these are
the following steps that you should do as a bare minimum:
-- on the very top menu, click TOOLS
-- from the drop-down menu, click CLEAR PRIVATE DATA
-- select BROWSING HISTORY
-- select DOWNLOAD HISTORY
-- select CACHE
-- select COOKIES
-- click CLEAR PRIVATE DATA NOW.
Afterwards, it's always best to exit Firefox, and then restart.
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The more Y!A questions I read concerning Firefox, the more
it seems to be full of problems. Here are a couple websites
you might find interesting (with their URL addresses written
in full, followed by their direct link):
Mozilla's very own website, where they admit to their faults:
www . mozilla . org / projects / security / known - vulnerabilities . html
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html
Another website showing all the pros and cons about Firefox:
home . comcast . net / ~Support CD / Firefox Myths . html
http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html