Flash crashes Windows 7

OriginalJoeCool

OriginalJoeCool

Tech Monkey
I'm having a problem with flash on my new HP Envy 17. Specifically, whenever I try to watch a flash video in any browser, it crashes the browser and within a few minutes (even if I terminate the browser) causes Windows to lock up totally. I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling flash, but that didn't help. Chrome's built-in flash plugin has the same problem.

I've also been having a problem with games. In Need for Speed, for example, I am only getting about 10 fps according to fraps. I thought maybe overheating was causing it, but GPU-Z reports temps of 58-60C during gaming.

Both problems started around the same time, I believe. I'm not quite sure what to do next....
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Did you happen to simply re-install Flash and see if that helped things at all? You might even want to install an older version of Flash (even if it's still Flash 10) to see if the problem goes away.

How are you digging the notebook, aside from this issue?
 
OriginalJoeCool

OriginalJoeCool

Tech Monkey
The laptop is great aside from these issues. Oh, and I find HP pre-installs way too much software. The only I kept was the 3D DriveGuard because it seemed like a good thing to have.

Yeah, I tried just reinstalling. I don't have a problem in safe mode, so there seems to be a conflict somewhere.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
I have no idea what 3D DriveGuard is, but I agree on the bloatware. It was so bad on my HP dv2 that I scrapped the entire default install and deleted the recovery partition. It's easier to just install the entire thing from the start.

Make sure your GPU drivers are completely up-to-date. It seems like ever since Adobe released GPU-acceleration with Flash, it's been super unstable.
 
OriginalJoeCool

OriginalJoeCool

Tech Monkey
Yay, I fixed it! I downloaded a new driver from HP's site. I'll remember not to trust Windows when it says my drivers are up-to-date.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top