General
01: What can I do to solve general problems?Platform, Browser, and Player Questions
08: What are the minimum system requirements?Audio and Video Questions
15: Why is the video stuttering/barely moving?Network Questions
19: How do I receive audio/video behind a firewall?01: What can I do to solve general problems?
Try the following things in this order (from simplest to most complicated) to solve miscellaneous problems. In all cases you must successfully pass each test to properly view a presentation.
02: What can I do to solve pop-up blocker problems?
Problem: When clicking on any of the programs, the page flashes briefly but the program does not open.
Solution: The problem is caused by a Pop-up Blocker which prevents the new browser window for the program from opening. Check the following places and follow the steps listed below to disable them (note that you will need to turn off the Pop-up Blocker for each of the utilities you may have installed on your computer):
03: Do I need Microsoft™ PowerPoint™ to view the synchronized slides?
You do not need it to view the slides which are part of the presentation. However, if you would like to print the slides, the original PowerPoint presentation is usually available for download as a separate link, and in this instance you will need PowerPoint™.
04: Can I print out the PowerPoint™ slides?
If you wish to print the presentation you may do so by downloading the original PowerPoint presentation available as a separate link, opening it in PowerPoint and then printing. Printing of the presentation is purely optional.
05: Why is "Loading..." displayed for so long?
Depending on the length of the presentation and the number of slides, the presentation may take a while to load especially on a slower internet connection such as a 56k modem (sometimes one or more minutes). If you feel you have been waiting an extended amount of time, you might want to try the general troubleshooting techniques.
06: Why aren't the slides keeping up with the audio and video?
This is almost always related to the speed of your internet connection. If it doesn't correct itself within a few minutes, try re-launching the presentation. You might also want to try the general troubleshooting techniques.
Although this type of error can happen for a number of reasons, any pop-up blocker must be turned off for proper operation of the presentation. New windows are launched for "System Test", "Launch", "Register", and "Handouts" and the pop-up blocker will keep all of these windows from showing up.
08: What are the minimum system requirements?
Most computers from the past 5 years will work just fine. The latest versions of Windows, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer will generally always work best as this is almost always the most common configuration.
Specific system requirements include:
09: Which platforms are currently supported?
All versions of Internet Explorer higher than v5.5 are supported.
Windows Media Player v6.4 and higher are supported. Older versions of Windows Media Player are likely to work. RealOne, Real v7, and Real v8 and higher are supported and older versions are likely to work as well.
While a number of different browsers and versions of media players are supported, the following combinations work best on all Windows platforms: Internet Explorer/Real and Internet Explorer/Windows Media Player.
10: What browser security settings are required?
Presentations require very minimal security and, in fact, default browser security settings are always acceptable. Specifically, the following access is required in each browser:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher:
Global security settings of "Medium", "Medium-Low", and "Low" all work completely. A security setting of "High" does not work.
For Advanced Security Settings the following are important:
Cookie settings of "Medium High", "Medium", "Low" or "Accept All Cookies" all work. Security settings of "High" or "Block All" will cause strange behavior.
For "Override Automatic Cookie Handling" the following are important:
11: Why does my computer freeze when viewing the presentation?
If your computer is older than 5 years old, it may just not be capable of playing back streaming media. Try viewing the test clips as a first step.
If your computer is relatively new and repeatedly freezes when viewing the presentation, you may have to re-load your browser software, especially if your computer freezes when surfing the web in general.
In some cases, a slow internet connection can be the cause of the computer freezing, but in many cases any kind of activity is just very slow.
12: Will clearing my computer's Temporary Internet Files solve my audio/video problem?
Your computer stores temporary internet files which speed up your browser's performance. However, this can cause problems when viewing audio/video files that have recently been updated. Prior to each broadcast, please clear your computer's temporary internet files by following these steps:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7:
To find the version number of Microsoft Internet Explorer:
14: How do I download the media players?
Follow the directions associated with the free media player you wish to download:
15: Why is the video stuttering/barely moving?
If your audio is playing fine and the presentation is supposed to have video, then your internet connection may be too slow or overloaded to play the video. As a last resort, your media player will attempt to play only the audio.
If the audio is also stuttering and constantly re-buffering, it's probable your internet connection is too slow or congested. You might also want to try the general troubleshooting techniques.
16: Why are there so many pauses in the presentation? Why does the player say "buffering"?
The player is most likely experiencing network congestion, meaning there is not enough available bandwidth to stream the selected file resulting in packet loss. Try selecting a different bit-rate, including audio only formats if available, or try again when the network is less congested.
If no bit-rate choice works, it may be that your network connection is just not capable of playing streaming media.
You might also want to try the general troubleshooting techniques.
17: I can see the video, why can't I hear audio/sound?
As a first step, make sure that your PC has a sound card to play the audio and the volume on your speakers is turned up.
Do you normally hear sounds from your computer such as system beeps at startup?
If you do have a sound card and regularly hear noises from your computer, the content being played probably uses a compression codec that isn't installed on your system (if you received a message when you first attempted to play, and you ignored the message, the media player was probably trying to install a new codec). To ensure that you have all codecs currently supported, re-install the Windows Media Player or the Real Player from our Test page.
You might also want to try the general troubleshooting techniques.
18: Why is the audio/sound at a low volume?
If you are not hearing audio at all please refer to "I can see the video, why can't I hear audio/sound?". If your audio is definitely there, but low, the audio can be turned up via software or hardware.
Almost all external speakers will have an audio volume control knob and most laptops and some desktop computers will have a button on the keyboard or computer itself with a speaker icon.
All versions of Windows have an internal volume control. You will find this control by clicking on the speaker icon in the Control Panel. When in doubt, increase the volume on all devices. Depending on the version of the Windows Media Player you are using, there is a separate software volume control. To access this, place the mouse over the Windows Media Player, right click, and choose the volume menu.
If neither software nor hardware volume controls increase the audio volume, try selecting a different bit-rate or player combination; some may be recorded at higher volume than others.
In older computers and laptops, the internal speaker may just be very poor. You may wish to consider investing in a set of external speakers
19: How do I receive audio/video behind a firewall?
If you are behind a corporate firewall, you might have trouble viewing streaming media content. For more information on how to resolve this issue, scroll down and find your preferred player listed below.
(The transports are listed starting with the best quality transport but hardest to implement on a firewall)
Windows Media Player Firewall Information
You will need to either connect to the broadcast site from outside of the firewall or ask your MIS department to open a port which supports audio & video streaming.
Windows Media Player automatically selects the most efficient transport for your network without any intervention. You should only change this setting if you are experiencing problems receiving clips, or if your network administrator has notified you that you should change this setting.
If you continue to experience problems, follow these steps:
Real Player Firewall Information
You will need to either connect to the broadcast site from outside of the firewall or ask your MIS department to open a port which supports audio & video streaming. Your MIS department can support the following standard ports:
Real Player automatically selects the most efficient transport for your network without any intervention. You should only change this setting if you are experiencing problems receiving RealAudio and Real Video clips or if you have been notified by your network administrator that you should change this setting.
The HTTP Only option allows almost all Players behind a firewall to access RealAudio and Real Video content. However, quality may not be as good as the other options.
To configure Real Player versions 4.0 and 5.0 to receive content through HTTP Only:
To configure Real Player G2 to receive content through HTTP Only: