Fix jerky videos and games, make webcams and audio work and speed up your internet
Whatever’s going wrong...
For any Flash problem, the first thing to do is check that you’ve got the latest version installed by visiting the plug-in’s home page (www.snipca.com/15769). Look in the Version Information box to find out your installed version, then check the table underneath it to see if it’s up to date. If it’s not, click the Player Download Center link and follow the prompts.
Video or audio aren’t working
Missing video or weird audio can be caused by lots of things. Start by clearing your browser’s cache. In Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) click the cog icon, point to Safety, then click ‘Delete browsing history’. In Chrome, click the menu button (three lines) then click History followed by ‘Clear browsing data’. In Firefox, click Tools then Clear Recent History.
Next, check that JavaScript is enabled (this is not the same as the browser plug-in Java). In IE11, click the cog followed by ‘Internet options’. Now choose the Security tab and click ‘Custom level’. In the Scripting section, select the Enable button. In Chrome, open the menu and choose Settings followed by ‘Show advanced settings’, then ‘Content settings’ in the Privacy section and choose the ‘Allow all sites to run JavaScript (recommended)’ button. In Firefox, type about:config into the address bar and press Enter. Click ‘I’ll be careful, I promise!’, then type javascript into the Search bar. If the entry in the ‘javascript.enabled’ Value column reads ‘false’, then right-click and choose Toggle to change it to ‘true’.
Videos and games are jerky or slow
These problems are often caused by out-of-date graphics card drivers. To check, first right-click the Flash video window and choose Settings; a small dialogue box will appear. Now click the Display tab (first from the left) and untick ‘Enable hardware acceleration’. Click Close and try playing the video. If playback is smoother, try updating your graphics card drivers before re-enabling this feature.
Flash content doesn’t fit
Did you accidentally twiddle your mouse wheel while holding down Control (Ctrl)? Regardless, try that first. Another possibility is that you’ve inadvertently activated Flash’s own zoom function, which can render Flash content unusable. To sort the magnification, right-click in the Flash pane and choose Zoom In or Zoom Out, as appropriate.
Webcam or microphone aren’t working
Some Flash apps and games make use of your PC’s webcam and microphone, if attached. The related permissions can be managed by individual websites or globally (the same setting for all sites). To enable these devices for a particular website, first right-click the Flash pane and choose Settings. Click the second-from-left tab (a monitor with an eye) then click the Allow button. To make this setting permanent for the current website, tick the Remember box. To make this (and other changes) globally, read the next tip.
Internet connection slows down
Flash has a little-known feature called Peer Assisted Networking that allows some Flash components to ‘borrow’ bandwidth from your internet connection, which can slow everything down. To stop this, visit Flash Player’s Global Settings page by right-clicking any Flash pane and choosing Global Settings, or by visiting www.snipca.com/15836. Click the Peer Assisted Networking Settings tab (the icon with two heads) and then tick ‘Disable P2P uplink for all’. Alternatively, scroll through the list to selectively allow or deny this feature.
Fix ActiveX errors
ActiveX is a Microsoft technology that allows interactive content on some websites but, because it can be a security risk, recent versions of IE let you disable it. This can make some Flash apps fail. The answer is to temporarily disable IE’s ActiveX Filtering feature, by opening the tools menu and clicking ActiveX Filtering to remove its tick.