Youtube keeps buffering

[abbarich]

My latop is about 2 years old and is working fine but yesterday I noticed the youtube page is not working like it used to. It seems to have happened overnight. It plays the first video ok but if I try to play another it buffers. I end up having to close page and open another and then it's ok for roughly 3 minutes then buffers again. Does anyone have any advice to overcome this? Thanks.

 

[Mooons]

What are your internet speeds?
What are the laptops specs and OS?
Laptop running hot?
Up to date on Windows updates?

 

[abbarich]

I'm using windows 10. It's a lenovo laptop and only 4.00GB of RAM. Laptop isn't hot and is up to date with updates. Not sure of speed but I'm with virgin and it's pretty quick. All sites I go on are normal, except youtube which was perfect until yesterday. I'm not sure why it's started buffering after about 3 minutes. I had the same thing years ago on a desktop but I updated flash and it solved it. Flash isn't even on my laptop but youtube has worked perfectly til now. I'm not sure what's happened. Thanks.

 

[Mooons]

Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Use Speedtest on all your devices with our free desktop and mobile apps.

www.speedtest.net

Test your speed and post your results. What browser are you using? Wifi or ethernet? What is your CPU?

Things you can try:

• Reboot your modem/router
• Install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player
• Install an SSD and get rid of the HDD

 

[abbarich]

Thanks, I tested my speed and it 42.0 Mbps which is fast. I rebooted router and installed Flash but no change to the problem. It allows me to watch one youtube video and I've just noticed if I stay on the same page without opening another it doesn't buffer when I play another video, but if I open another page and browse while listening to music on youtube it always buffers when I try to play another. I have to close the page and open another. I've always listened to youtube while browsing another page, and it's only started this problem a couple of days ago. Not sure what could have suddenly caused this. I haven't installed a SSD before. Could this solve it? I'm wifi and chrome 83. CPU is 2.16GHZ. Thanks.

 

[Mooons]

Can you specify all your specs?

 

[abbarich]

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name DESKTOP-VO7C9GU

System Type x64-based PC

System SKU LENOVO_MT_80MJ_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo ideapad 100-15IBY

Processor Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N2840 @ 2.16GHz, 2159 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date LENOVO CCCN18WW(V2.04), 11/11/2015

I've copied and pasted a few of the specs. My laptop is 3 years old come to think of it. It still works great. It's a shame about youtube. The age of my laptop might be the reason so I'll probably have to live with it. Thanks.

 

[Mooons]

Google chrome uses up a lot of ram since you only have 4GB of RAM you could try to use another browser. Your CPU is a limiting factor as well.

Some upgrades that will speed up your system:

• SSD
• 4GB more of RAM for a total of 8GB

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for that. I'll try using youtube on another browser. This laptop wasn't as expensive as my previous one so maybe it's slowing down now it's 3 years old. I'll get a better one next time. I'll look into the SSD upgrade for this one though. I'm not sure how long laptops last these days but it may pay me to upgrade. Many thanks!

 

[Mooons]

You can get an SSD for $30. It is such a huge upgrade and will make your system feel brand new and much faster. Super simple to install as well.

 

[abbarich]

My laptop is pretty full of MPEGs and MP3's. Just a thought, if I deleted these would it speed up my laptop? As it's 3 years old now, I might still need to get an upgrade though. Thanks.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You have a slow(er) machine & limited RAM. Deleting files from the drive won't do a thing. 4GB of RAM would give an immediate improvement.

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for that. Is there a particular 4GB RAM you'd recommend for my lenovo laptop? I see there's help videos on youtube but I've never done anything like this before. Is it easy to do, and should I be aware of anything so I don't cause any damage? I can remember when I did a systems maintenance course years ago we had to wear wrist bands to protect the desktops, but I think laptops are pretty hardy aren't they? Thanks.

 

[Mooons]

Installing RAM is probably the easiest thing to do on a laptop. It is usually right under the bottom cover so it is super accessible.

Here is a link to the RAM that you can install: https://www.amazon.com/PC3-10600-204-pin-1333MHz-Genuine-Tech/dp/B00C5394IO/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=DDR3L-1333/PC3-10600+SO-DIMM&qid=1591915788&s=electronics&sr=1-2-spons&smid=A3LKWIQ3PBTNT2&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMjQwM00yRkM4MkpBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDU1MTY2WFhPMTRWQkRGRVFFJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5NDg1ODkzMDgzNjlNUVY3MVYmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1

Pick up one of these if you can and get rid of that slow HDD.

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-120...120gb+ssd&qid=1591915872&s=electronics&sr=1-6