Can't watch anything anymore

[#1]

Hi again!
Some of you may remember that I have problems streaming YouTube on my laptop (See the "Problems streaming You Tube" thread on the Community Support section. We established that my problem was likely yo be software related (see http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,77821.msg631028.html#msg631028 and http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,77821.msg631335.html#msg631335).
Since then, I have tried every possible update. I am now on XP Service Pack 3, with the latest Flash Player. I still am unable to watch a You Tube video (if anything it's worse). The stream starts. The buffering bar is excellent. But the picture freezes or goes into slide show mode.
And now, I get the same again on IPlayer. We have not been able to watch IPlayer on the laptop in the last two or three days.
So basically, here is my question: does anybody have an idea of what could possibly be wrong? My video card is fairly old, but it is newer than that of my desktop computer and all works fine on the latter...
Thanks for your help! 
PS: Needless to say I have examined the YouTube help section in every detail, to no avail.

[#2]

how much RAM has your Lappy got? some come with a ridiculous small amount, upped this one from 256 to 1M

[#3]

Hello pierre_pierre
Here is my computer info:
Inspiron 5160 
Processor Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Processor Speed 2.72 GHz
Memory (RAM) 2048 MB
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Service Pack 3)
Operating System Version 5.1.2600

[#4]

I've just had an issue with videos on the BBC news site in that the box came up blank. I tried several different ones and they all failed the same way. I fixed it with a CTRL+F5 to force it to reload cached items.
The same (or flushing the browser cache) is worth a try!

[#5]

Hi Jelv
Thanks, but that's not working for me. 
I was wondering if the amount of disk space used could affect performance: I have only about 5GB left and 35GB used. Could that be affecting something? (Having said that, I don't have any problems watching DVDs and video downloads on my laptop so probably not...)
Cheers

[#6]

It can - but only if you have a small amount left.  You still have 5GB left though so that should be absolutely fine.
Does it work fine on a different computer on the same connection?

[#7]

Yes, it works fine on my desktop computer with the same connection.
PS: I use Firefox but have the same problem on IE (latest versions).

[#8]

Rather than making sure you've updated Flash to the latest version, have you tried an uninstall/re-install?

[#9]

Yes I did, but to be on the safe side I just did another uninstall/install using the official Flash Player Uninstaller etc.
I then proceeded to watch a YouTube video successfully for 3mn18 and then the picture went into slide show mode again...
I really don't want to have to go through a whole hard drive reformat. My system is pretty clean. I use Ashampoo regularly to get rid of all the rubbish...
Strange...

[#10]

My Laptop is a micky mouse compared with yours, and I no problem with BBC

[#11]

Have you tried doing a system restore back to when iPlayer last worked?

[#12]

I have got to go now, but I'll try a system restore tonight or at the weekend. I installed SP3 yesterday though, hoping it would solve my issues. I assume I will have to go through the installation process again after the restore, will I?

[#13]

I'd have thought so yes.

[#14]

See http://linuxcentre.net/ - this allows DRM free downloads and should give you better quality iPlayer playback (no stuttering).

[#15]

Thanks!
But still, how about You Tube? That's not a new issue so a system restore won't help. Any more ideas?