Thanks for the replies folks
dprout69, I will run Check Disk when I have enough spare free in the event something goes wrong. I'm sure you know to well it can take ages.
As for updating Avast! just replace it with Check Disk in the sentence above.
Don't let the lack of a power button throw you. Countless lappy lovers who own/owned low-end Acers had their power buttons cave in and resorted to a raft of stone-age methods to fire em up. I've been using my trusty paperclip for nigh-on 4 years. Some would call that heroic.
NoelC, cheers for being the first to offer an explanation pertaining to what Avast! is actually doing in the background.
You clearly know more than me, albeit, I have used Avast! for years and the problems only emerged immediately after an update to the then latest 2014 version.
I would have presumed previous versions were streaming updates virtually all the time in the background in like manner.
But as you've alluded to, maybe the 2014 version has just pushed my system a mite to hard to handle.
As a matter of interest, though my OS and HD are both old and down market, I have always kept my machine as lite as can be. I have 40 processes running at the minute and rarely ever more than that.
Minor problems over the years have come and gone, and as it stands this media playback issue is by far the biggest pain in the arse I've had to contend with.
Lastly, I auto browsed a driver update for my graphics card but it was currently up-to-date. The last release was 2008.
I then surfed around myself and found Intels Driver Utility which determined the newest driver compatible with my OS was the Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver For Mobile.
I downloaded it through their utility, unzipped the file, and then tried to install through their utility but it failed(This is a common nag with the utility according to web searches).
Tried it manually and still couldn't install it.
Decided to laugh it off and deleted the files.
Because the failed install reshuffled all my desktop icons out of position I restarted my lappy.
Typed in password, screen went black, command prompt appeared for a second or two, screen went a spectrum of colours then loaded my desktop as usual but now with Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver For Mobile in the tray and 3 processes running in task manager.
I don't fully understand this driver and its useability. I thought I'd just install it and that's it but there's a whole bunch of settings to fine-tune. It seems something gamers need rather than folks like me.
As it is, it hasn't done anything for my playback issues.
I guessed I could just roll back to my previous driver but that option isn't available.
In addition, Device Manager > Display Adapters shows Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family --- and --- Personalisation > Display Settings > Advanced Settings > Properties > Driver shows Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family --- but --- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver For Mobile is shown as if it's separate.
I thought it would replace it?
What will happen if I uninstall it?
I'm having a slow moment and got myself confused here.
I have attached a few screenshots and a diagnostic report for visual ease. I would be very grateful if somebody would take a wee look and tell me what's what.
Thank you for reading my post.
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