What would prevent protected video (Netflix, Amazon Prime video) from streaming on Windows 10?

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UnbiosedOpinion

Junior Member
Sep 19, 2005
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0
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Hope somebody can offer some help here. I'm all Googled out.

I've got a laptop running current Windows 10 that streams video from Youtube,
Facebook, and other free video sources just fine. But Windows crashes
(BSOD) as soon as Netflix or Amazon Prime videos try to start. The
bugcheck code is x"50", Page Fault in Nonpaged Area.

This happens exactly the same in 3 browsers (Chrome, Edge, and Firefox).

The Netflix/Amazon accounts themselves are good, and stream fine on a
Windows 7 machine of the same model, sitting a few feet from the Win 10
laptop.

I also tried using the Netflix App from the MS Store. It doesn't crash the
entire system, but after clicking a particular movie, a popup appears
for a second and immediately closes -- so can't view video from the
Netflix app either.

These are the other things I've tried:
* Installed latest video drivers from 3 sources: Intel, Microsoft, and
Dell. No change.
* Disabled the realtime virus scan and Web Advisor browser add-ons.
(McAfee Total Protection)
* Scanned system for malware; none found.
* Ran Windows Troubleshooter for Video, Hardware, etc. with nothing found.

This all leads me to suspect that something is wrong with the system that
handles protected content, since unprotected videos play fine.

Can anyone help solve this?

Specs:
Dell Latitude E6530, 8GB RAM, i7 CPU, Intel SSD.
Windows 10 April 2018 version, clean-installed and updates current.
Chrome and Firefox are up-to-date.
McAfee Total Protection is up-to-date.

I should add that Windows Media Player also crashes the system even
playing local MP3 music, so Groove is used instead. Other than that the
system has been stable.
Also VLC Media Player is installed to play DVDs. It handles a lot of file
formats, but I can't imagine it's trying to play the Netflix/Amazon
streams and messing things up.
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
1. Could be memory, run memtest86.

2. Could be overheating.

Is this an old laptop? Probably the thermalpaste for CPU has hardened over the years.
Tear down the laptop, find the CPU and apply new thermal paste.​
 
JackMDS

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,540
419
126
Many old laptop might end up with thick dust clogging from inside the vent-out space.


:cool:
 
U

UnbiosedOpinion

Junior Member
Sep 19, 2005
14
0
61
Thanks for the suggestions. It's a new build; the laptop was cleaned & refurbed just a couple months ago, and passed all diagnostics including memtest86.
I don't think heat is the issue, because it can stream HD video from Youtube all day with no problem. But I have started it up cold, immediately run Netflix, and it crashes right after clicking the movie to play. It never even streams, so has no chance to overheat.

I also signed on using a different Windows user account to see if there was user profile or certificate corruption. Same BSOD.

The crashes seem too predictable and identical to not be software. I just don't know where to look; codecs, encryption, and DRM issues are like black holes to me.
 
W

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
9,436
1,569
126
If you stream at 4K try reducing the stream to 1080p or 720p and see if that works.
 
U

UnbiosedOpinion

Junior Member
Sep 19, 2005
14
0
61
Kind of a strange workaround, but by starting in safe mode with a wired Internet connection, I was able to stream both Netflix and Amazon video. Then in normal mode they worked, first wired then wirelessly. This was with NO software or driver changes!

But I tried Drive Booster anyway, which did find newer chipset software that I applied (thanks vailr). And VLC Player had a new update in the past couple weeks, so I installed that.

After playing a DVD with the new VLC, I tried Netflix and Amazon and they failed again--no more hard crashes, just freezing or Netflix error messages. But a safe mode/restart fixes it, until VLC runs again.

I don't get how, but VLC seems to do something that messes with protected video streaming. It could be that I set it to handle too many file types. But at least I found a smoking gun.

Thanks everyone for the help.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
UnbiosedOpinion said:
VLC Player had a new update in the past couple weeks, so I installed that.

After playing a DVD with the new VLC, I tried Netflix and Amazon and they failed again--no more hard crashes, just freezing or Netflix error messages. But a safe mode/restart fixes it, until VLC runs again.

I don't get how, but VLC seems to do something that messes with protected video streaming. It could be that I set it to handle too many file types.
Click to expand...

Try: a complete uninstall of VLC, then re-install of the latest version. VLC is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit separate versions, so look for the version that matches the operating system's "bit version".
 
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