Videos will no longer play on my laptop- NEED HELP!

[mi75 1,240]

my HP laptop has stopped playing videos from youtube, flipo, etc. don't know why. it stopped about 2 weeks ago, played for a day, stopped again completely, then played some yesterday without issue, then again today it won't play them.

i am INCREDIBLY computer illiterate so i have NO idea what to do or where to go to figure it out. our AVG virus software did a virus update about 2 weeks ago but that wouldn't affect it, i don't think. and why yesterday then nothing today???

when i click onto a video it will bring it up and show the opening frame only. no further play or sound...anybody have any ideas? i've done multiple virus scans and it seems clean...

[UK Cathy 977]

try using google chrome not google to play them, we had something similar at college and this worked.

[joatsaint 2,814]

I would suggest that you reboot your laptop first. If that doesn't fix it, then try a different browser - Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer. You may need to download the latest version of Adobe Flash to get things working again. http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

If you've installed any browser plugins or tool bars lately, that may be causing a problem. Some software updates are now coming with things like the Ask.com tool bar as part of the package and unless you watch carefully during the installation - and uncheck a box - the toolbar will be installed by default. It causes all kinds of problems for my users at my office.

If you know how to get to the Control Panel, open "Programs and features" to see a list of installed software. Don't uninstall anything until you've Googled the program name to find out what it does.