Videos Keep Downloading Even After Closing Firefox Or Google Chrome.

Hello, I just signed in because I have a weird issue, so this is my first post here:


Recently I've noticed my internet connection suddenly was getting very slow, I thought it was some problem with my internet provider but the problem was getting very frequent. I use a program (a Win7 gadget) that helps me monitor my internet traffic, access and usage, and I noticed all my bandwidth was being used even if I had all programs closed. A couple of days later I discovered that each time I opened a streaming video from any site (not just YouTube), the problem was there, so everytime I watch a video I have to wait for it to load completely, even if I close its tab or the browser.


Another thing I noted is that if I try to find which program is accessing the internet with the Resource Monitor that comes with Windows 7, there's none. Let's say that I open a video, I check the Resource Monitor and there I can find Firefox is accessing the network as expected, then I close Firefox, the program disappears from the Resource Monitor list (again, as expected) but the bandwidth is still being accessed at full. I have a very slow connection (2 Mb), so you can tell how this becomes a very big problem for me.


I don't have the slightest idea how this problem started, all I know is that it started somewhere in the first days of December 2012. All the past year I've been using Bitdefender 2012 without any problems, but suddenly this issue started. I'm very careful about the software I install in my PC. I've searched all over the web trying to find a solution but to no avail, it seems a lot of other users have the same issue but with some variants: some people blame it on Bitdefender, other people blame it to using other browsers, etc., but I haven't found a solution yet. Today I've just updated to Bitdefender 2013, but the problem still persists! <img class=" />


Now, watching videos is a big part of my internet experience, even YouTube is my homepage, and I sometimes like to watch very long videos (20+ min.), or open like four or five of them in different tabs so they can buffer and I can watch them later; you can tell this problem ruins a big part of my web usage. Let's say I open a video with 5:00 minutes of length, I watch like 20 seconds of it and then I decide to close it, now I must wait the whole five minutes for the video to stop buffering to be able to watch another one (or to do anything web related for that matter) or surf the web at the pace of a snail until the video stops loading.


The solutions I've tried (and have failed) so far are:


  • Adding a new string and value using "regedit" in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BitDefender as suggested in this thread.
  • Cleaning the registry and junk files.
  • Disabling all antivirus options in BitDefender 2012.
  • Disabling and enabling again the network adapter.
  • Doing a full system antivirus scan.
  • Downgrading Firefox to version v.16.0.2 without success, and then to v.14.0.1 with the same results.
  • Installing Google Chrome and trying to use it as my default browser.
  • Restoring my system (System Restore) to December, 4th. 2012.
  • Trying to tweak the various Flash Player options found in Control Panel (a.k.a. Global Settings).
  • Trying to tweak the "Flash Player Settings" found by right clicking on a video.
  • Uninstalling and updating all my Firefox extensions and Greasemonkey's scripts.
  • Uninstalling my monitoring programs (Windows 7 gadgets).
  • Updating Flash Player to the latest version.
  • Updating the AMD VISION Engine Control Center (updating my video drivers, that is).
  • Updating the DirectX software.
  • Using Firefox in safe mode with all extensions disabled.


Of all the things I've tried, the only one that really worked was uninstalling Bitdefender, as someone suggested me in the Adobe forums, but not having it installed is even worse for me as I'm quite reluctant to visit any other site for fear of getting an infection.


I discovered that if I'm using Internet Explorer 9, the videos stop buffering as soon as I close their tabs or the browser. As I mentioned above, it happens only with Firefox and Google Chrome.


Well, that's all I have to say, thank you for reading and I really hope you can come with a solution, cya! :)


Specs:


  • Adobe Flash Player, ver. 11.5.502.135
  • AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, 2.80GHz
  • Firefox, ver. 17.0.1
  • RAM 8 Gb
  • Windows 7, 64-bit


Please, help me if you can! :(

Comments

  • Hello, I just signed in because I have a weird issue, so this is my first post here:


    Recently I've noticed my internet connection suddenly was getting very slow, I thought it was some problem with my internet provider but the problem was getting very frequent. I use a program (a Win7 gadget) that helps me monitor my internet traffic, access and usage, and I noticed all my bandwidth was being used even if I had all programs closed. A couple of days later I discovered that each time I opened a streaming video from any site (not just YouTube), the problem was there, so everytime I watch a video I have to wait for it to load completely, even if I close its tab or the browser.


    Another thing I noted is that if I try to find which program is accessing the internet with the Resource Monitor that comes with Windows 7, there's none. Let's say that I open a video, I check the Resource Monitor and there I can find Firefox is accessing the network as expected, then I close Firefox, the program disappears from the Resource Monitor list (again, as expected) but the bandwidth is still being accessed at full. I have a very slow connection (2 Mb), so you can tell how this becomes a very big problem for me.


    I don't have the slightest idea how this problem started, all I know is that it started somewhere in the first days of December 2012. All the past year I've been using Bitdefender 2012 without any problems, but suddenly this issue started. I'm very careful about the software I install in my PC. I've searched all over the web trying to find a solution but to no avail, it seems a lot of other users have the same issue but with some variants: some people blame it on Bitdefender, other people blame it to using other browsers, etc., but I haven't found a solution yet. Today I've just updated to Bitdefender 2013, but the problem still persists! <img class=" />


    Now, watching videos is a big part of my internet experience, even YouTube is my homepage, and I sometimes like to watch very long videos (20+ min.), or open like four or five of them in different tabs so they can buffer and I can watch them later; you can tell this problem ruins a big part of my web usage. Let's say I open a video with 5:00 minutes of length, I watch like 20 seconds of it and then I decide to close it, now I must wait the whole five minutes for the video to stop buffering to be able to watch another one (or to do anything web related for that matter) or surf the web at the pace of a snail until the video stops loading.


    The solutions I've tried (and have failed) so far are:


    • Adding a new string and value using "regedit" in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BitDefender as suggested in this thread.
    • Cleaning the registry and junk files.
    • Disabling all antivirus options in BitDefender 2012.
    • Disabling and enabling again the network adapter.
    • Doing a full system antivirus scan.
    • Downgrading Firefox to version v.16.0.2 without success, and then to v.14.0.1 with the same results.
    • Installing Google Chrome and trying to use it as my default browser.
    • Restoring my system (System Restore) to December, 4th. 2012.
    • Trying to tweak the various Flash Player options found in Control Panel (a.k.a. Global Settings).
    • Trying to tweak the "Flash Player Settings" found by right clicking on a video.
    • Uninstalling and updating all my Firefox extensions and Greasemonkey's scripts.
    • Uninstalling my monitoring programs (Windows 7 gadgets).
    • Updating Flash Player to the latest version.
    • Updating the AMD VISION Engine Control Center (updating my video drivers, that is).
    • Updating the DirectX software.
    • Using Firefox in safe mode with all extensions disabled.


    Of all the things I've tried, the only one that really worked was uninstalling Bitdefender, as someone suggested me in the Adobe forums, but not having it installed is even worse for me as I'm quite reluctant to visit any other site for fear of getting an infection.


    I discovered that if I'm using Internet Explorer 9, the videos stop buffering as soon as I close their tabs or the browser. As I mentioned above, it happens only with Firefox and Google Chrome.


    Well, that's all I have to say, thank you for reading and I really hope you can come with a solution, cya! :)


    Specs:


    • Adobe Flash Player, ver. 11.5.502.135
    • AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, 2.80GHz
    • Firefox, ver. 17.0.1
    • RAM 8 Gb
    • Windows 7, 64-bit


    Please, help me if you can! :(


    Hello LaVey,


    Please, look this topic.


    http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=40768


    Regards.

  • Hi, alexx:


    Yes, yesterday I read some of your posts, it's somewhat nice (weird nice, that is) to know I'm not the only one carrying this burden. ^_^


    Still, someone posted that Bitdefender Firewall is causing all of this. I rarely use firewalls, one of the first things I do when I install Windows on a computer is to turn them off, to me they give more problems than protection, so I have Windows Firewall and Bitdefender Firewall turned off, but I was wondering: do you think that tweaking some of the settings in Bitdefender Firewall could be of some benefit regarding our problem?


    On another note, I was just wondering too: what if when installing Bitdefender I refrain from updating the software? I think that this issue started with some update in the first days of December 2012, as I mentioned before, I've been using BD 2012 the whole year without problems and it was until a month ago that this started to happen; I installed BD 2013 hoping that the problem would be solved, but (you know where this is going...). So, what if I installed Bitdefender vanilla? I know I'm not going to try this because I'm kinda fed up of installing BD again and again, but I leave that idea there to see if someone wants to try it out.


    As for me, I've already made a decision, I'm going to keep on using Bitdefender as it is now, and if there's not a solution in a month then I'm switching to Karpersky. :(


    Cya!

  • LaVey
    edited January 2013

    Hi, again:


    I just wanted to say that I decided to change to Kaspersky and I consider it to be great! It's kind of a shame as I really liked Bitdefender: it's Xbox 360-esque design and how light and non-intrusive it was; but it was giving me a lot of problems lately, for example: I had to turn some features off if I wanted to play Alice: Madness Returns on my PC, the account log-in popup window kept appearing every now and then (sometimes at the worst moments), flash videos kept downloading even if I closed the browser, some viruses were not being detected, and some other stuff.


    So, as I was saying, I've just changed to Kaspersky and, while it feels way heavier on the system compared to Bitdefender, once configured you barely know it's there, it's easy to use and it even detected two viruses in my computer that Bitdefender couldn't in a full system scan. You can turn off annoying messages and it gives way more protection while surfing the web.


    Still, I'm willing to give Bitdefender another chance but only when I know the video streaming problem is over. I hope that if anyone happens to be in the situation I was, he/she can look for a solution here.


    Cya!

  • Hello LaVey,


    "We are sorry for the delay of our answer, and for any inconveniences that we


    may have created. We will assist you in a timely fashion from now on".(maybe this sounds familiar) ;)


    In any case, I still think that the main culprit for this problem Bitdefender Firewall.


    I'll stick to that opinion until I get a proper explanation as well as the final solution from Technical Support.


    This problem has been present for so long and now is the right time to improve the current situation.


    I would like to stress that this problem is survived 3 product updates:


    16.24.0.1682, 16.24.0.1684 (never officially released) and 16.25.0.1710.


    By the way, disabling Firewall from the Windows Mode (I tested many times and does not help) you will not make too big thing,


    because it is possible to completely neutralize Bitefender, only from the Safe Mode.


    Up until then, Bitdefender will be active "somewhere from inside" and the problems will continue occuring.


    Therefore, I advise you to turn on Firewall to the way which has been recommended.


    Recommended settings can be found here.


    For now, the only solution I have for this problem is that over the "Manage Adapters" select the "Untrusted" network type,


    which still help me in a few minutes to completely calm mysterious internet activity, after that I return to network type Home / Office and the problem disappears temporarily.


    The only real cure is patience, patience and patience again in anticipation of the new Build which could be helpful!


    Regards.

  • Thank you all for your feedback and report. The discussion will continue in this topic >> http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?showtopic=42438

This discussion has been closed.