I need help from someone who knows about computers...

Every time I visit a webpage that has any kind of flash based browser video, or try to view a video online, my browser crashes and this message comes up saying that the browser has performed an illegal operation and will shut down. The same problem occurs both with explorer and firefox. I can't watch you-tuve clips for instance.

The fault is in the NPSWF32.DLL plugin. I have tried to go to the plugin folder, change that files name and go back to one of the sites that usually crashes my browser and then the page froze instead of crashing firefox. I put the bloody NPSWF32.DLL file back again and the browser crashes. How do I fix it? I have adobe flash player, shockwave flash, windows mediaplayer, winamp, quicktime and real player. Too many. :-)

I really need to be able to see videoclips on my pc and I can't update to a more modern operative system since my computer is really old and would run too slow on Windows XP or above. I have Windows 98 still and 158 mb RAM which can't be upgraded. I'm not in a position where I can buy a new computer. Yeah, go ahead and laugh! Would it benefit me to downgrade the flash player and other programs that have to do with media files to an older version to get them to work better with my Windows 98? It used to work ok with videos before. Some upgrades along the line seem to have caused a problem so that the upgraded programs no longer work with Win 98.

What am I to do?

Oh my! You are in a pickle.

Problem is, windows 98 support has been terminated by microsoft. That makes getting patches and fixes for it quite impossible.
What I would try doing is using the ad/remove programs feature in control panel and uninstall the flash player, reboot the machine and verify that it is indeed gone, then download and reinstall a fresh copy of it.

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/

At that link you'll find a version that is listed for Windows 98.

I think though that your problem is a matter of memory, you have so little system memory that it chokes up and dies.

If it still won't work after a fresh install (they only allow you to download version 9.x) the next thing to do would be to once again totally uninstall the player then install an older version of the player.

You can get old versions of it (and other old programs) from here,

http://oldversion.com/program.php?n=flashp

Be aware though, that a LOT of websites have now forced people to upgrade to flashplayer 9.x to view their content.
It's unfair but they hold the reigns and we little people are powerless to do anything about it other than grumble under our breath and comply.

Ultimately, I'm afraid you'll end up needed to pop some more memory in your machine. Seriously, memory is really cheap these days, I would be that you can get 512m of ram for around £25 or £30 at the most. Ram for older machines like that is pretty cheap these days. And it WILL make your machine run faster and more trouble free.. With ram, more is always better.

Hope that helps!



----------------------
Dip me in estrogen and throw me to the lesbians!

Ta Ta's! ( . )( . )

I have added as much memory as is possible in this thing - It's REALLY old and impossible to upgrade any more memorywise. I'd buy a new one pronto if I had the finances but having 2 kids to support makes me choose food on the table instead of pc equipment. :-) Oh well, I will try your tips Moonstruck. Thanks for the advice!

I was very curious to see what Moonstruck had to say about this problem.
I have a newer Pc with windows xp.I use that pc to go online and I also use it mainly for business purposes.
Recently one my nieces gave me her old pc that is a pentium 3 and also has windows 98 installed on it. I wanted to set that one up just to use for going online because of the nature of the info, I have stored on the newer windows xp one. Although I have all kinds protection installed (spyware etc.) I'm still worried.He He I always worry!
Now I'm wondering if it's a waste of time setting the older one up? It might limit what I can do online.
Any thoughts?

Blu-jay

How much RAM does it have? It might be beneficial for you to upgrade that pc to XP also, like your other one?

In my case, I have so little RAM that my computer would be slow as a snail on XP.

By the way, I uninstalled Flash and went to re-install it only to find an error message that a file is missing that is required for the download:
export, KERNEL32.DLL:VerifyVersionInfoA. Can't win LOL :-)

Yeah,I'd love to up grade to the newer windows!
So it's the same as the other one.:-) I've been told that it has 256 mb of ram but I'm not so sure about that.
I was checking out the "system properties",Clicked on Performance status, this is what it says:
Memory 120 0 MB of Ram
System resources 92% Free
File systems 32 Bit
Virtual Memory 32 Bit

Anyways, I've got someone coming over to look at it tomorrow night and I'll see what he says.


Blu-Jay :-)

Google MediaPlayerClassic and try installing it. Allow it to uninstall quicktime and realplayer if you have them installed. I build computers. I have been using MediaPlayerClassic for 7 years. Go to www.ccleaner.com download and install it. This freeware program will clean up your computer. I have been using it for 5 years. Allow it to delete everything that it wants to. If your computer needs or a program needs any info that is deleted it will re-install it. I do this stuff for a living. Make sure your computer is defragged at least once a month if not more.

My present computer is an AMD3700 64-bit with 2 gigs of ram and 400 gigs of hard drive space total, an ASUS K8VSE board with a 1600Mhz FSB, I also have an ATI X800 256 AGP Pro Video card. I built this one (my seventh personal computer I have built). I have 2 16X DVD recorders also. It has a Dual monitor display and it is also hooked up to a LCD Projector that plays at 96 Inches diagonal. I used to have a TV repair shop. You should hear my sound system, I build my own speakers.

I wish you were my neighbour TB...

I went to:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84358

Had a look but none of the versions of this player is compatible with Win 98. I might have to get XP after all, but I know it requires more hard drive space than I have so it might be a total waste of money to try and upgrade this piece of junk.

The program CrapCleaner is. I would start with that program as it will clean your registry without harming it. This version of MediaPlayer on the link below should work with Win98.

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/media_player_classic_for_win98_me.cfm