Why is YouTube crashing Chrome and my computer?
June 15, 2011 11:35 AM   Subscribe

I have some sort of video driver issues affecting Chrome on two different machines (2 different makers) using an i3 chipset. Any ideas how I can fix this problem?

I've experienced the same problem now on two different W7/i3 laptops (Sony VAIO, Acer Aspire), each with 4GB RAM; both are hooked to an external display (VGA) in "extend monitors" setting. The laptop monitors act as the desktop, while I use the secondary monitor for productivity.

I use Chrome for most productivity (Gmail, WordPress, Joomla CMS, etc). While working I listen to music with Windows Media Player.

The problem does not seem to happen in IE9. I haven't tried Firefox, since most of my work is done online and it takes a lot of work to install creds, etc.

The issue: sometimes when opening a new window, typically in the secondary monitor (the extension of my desktop), Windows freezes... or just processes very slowly.

If listening to WMP, the sound will become very stuttered. It can take up to a minute for the system to unfreeze. Sometimes Windows will actually crash.

This first started happening when opening YouTube videos, and will now happen when opening Facebook (I`m guessing because there are a lot of embedded YouTube videos in Facebook).

I suspect it's an issue with Flash, but Chrome tells me Flash is updated.

Sometimes when crashing, both screen go blank, and the system re-detects the mouse and keyboard.

Occasionally a system tray bubble will pop up, explaining that an Intel display driver has crashed.

I tried re-installing the latest Intel driver on the VAIO, using the Intel detect-driver utility (I downloaded it online), but this has not worked.

The VAIO has been my primary computer, so I just switched to the Acer. The same problem may be happening.

The funny thing is, it seems to be an escalating problem. It starts out small, and happens infrequently, but over time (say, over the course of a week or so with VAIO) the problem becomes worse and worse.

Any insight would be helpful!
posted by KokuRyu to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)
 
Does your Acer Aspire have a dedicated graphics card or integrated video (laptops with integrated video can have a lot of difficulty driving two displays)? Just as (or more) helpful would be a model number for your Aspire.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:46 AM on June 15, 2011


Response by poster: Thanks for your help!

Model numbers
Acer Aspire: 5742-6406
Sony VAIO: vpceb11fd
posted by KokuRyu at 11:48 AM on June 15, 2011


- Do you see this issue when the laptops run without the second display?

- Are the laptops hot? Might be a component overheating.

- You might try manually uninstalling flash and reinstalling, but this seems directly related to the video card. Sometimes the latest drivers break things - especially with video cards. You might try an earlier driver revision.
posted by dosterm at 1:49 PM on June 15, 2011


I'm guessing you've installed all the latest windows updates?
posted by Z303 at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2011


Response by poster: It just happens when the second display is connected; I don't think overheating is an issue, as I have cleaned out both with compressed air.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:57 PM on June 15, 2011


It might be worth trying to uninstall Flash and see if that's really the cause. Adobe has an uninstaller tool.
posted by lantius at 2:26 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Your Acer has integrated video. You may have more luck driving a second monitor with it if you decrease your resolution and color depth; there may even be settings in your BIOS to adjust the amount of RAM that is allocated to it (giving it more means better video performance, but less memory available for everything else). But you will be pushing your system beyond what the hardware is built for, and success is by no means guaranteed.

I haven't been able to find the specs for that model of VAIO yet. I'd be a little surprised if the VAIO, given its excellent reputation for multimedia, would have the same issue that the Acer did. I'd be more inclined to believe it's a software/driver issue with it.

You may be able to find out by, using your VAIO, right-clicking (My) Computer->Properties->Device Manager. Click the View menu and ensure that "View Devices by Category" is selected. Expand the category or categories that contain words like "Display Adapters" or "video" or "graphics". What do you see under those categories?
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:14 PM on June 15, 2011


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