Downloads/images must load completely before displaying/saving, video will not s

Hello all,

I've recently built a new desktop and all is working satisfactorily so far. However, there has been something which has been mystifying me for some time.

Whenever I access a file through HTTP, it seems to require that I completely load the file before it will display.

1) For large images, this will result in the whole thing taking some time to load before displaying in its entirety, unlike the usual progressive rendering.

2) For file downloads, this will result in the file being downloaded only after being cached, appearing only when the whole file has finished downloading, unlike the usual process where it can be seen as a progress bar in the browser's download window (for some reason, FTP downloading seems to work normally)

3) For internet streaming video, this means the video will not display until the whole video has been buffered (i.e. will not play until fully loaded)

I've been scratching my head over what may be causing this -browser settings, network configuration, network card settings- but I haven't a clue where to even begin. If someone would be so kind as to point me in the right direction, I'd be rather grateful! The problem isn't serious but it is quite aggravating.

This is normal a function of the internet browser, I would try Google chrome.

Thanks for the reply, Hang-the-9!

1) I have tried resetting the browser to default, and even re installation, but it continues to persist. I kind of suspect it being a general problem with my network options rather than specific to the browser, although there are differences. IE for example sill streams videos normally, while Firefox doesn't. Both experience the image and downloading issues though

2) I apologise, perhaps I should have made myself clearer. I shall attempt to describe more accurately what I'm experiencing.

Images do continue to load progressively like so,



When they are web page element i.e. on the page itself.

When I open an image file in a separate window (e.g. http://home.comcast.net/~jtgale01/ [...] o_Web.jpg), however, the image will not load until everything has been cached, when it will suddenly appear all at once in its entirety. This is the first time I have ever seen something like that.

Its something similar for file downloads. I do know about the placeholder file (in Firefox it is a .part extension), but usually I can see both the actual file and the placeholder file in my download folder (Desktop for me), and the downloads window will show the gradual progress in downloading (e.g. 30%, how much time remaining, how many bytes have been downloaded and how many remain, etc).

What I am experiencing is that the file dialog window asking if I want to save or open will not appear at all until the file has been completely loaded, upon which saving will result in the whole file appearing in the download folder immediately. This can be quite a problem as it means downloading a large file will take a long time without knowing how much time is left or what the download progress is, to say nothing of stuffing my browser cache with a large file, which is where I think the file is being downloaded.

Strangely enough this only seems to occur to files downloaded through http links. FTP links continue to download normally.

Videos is still a complete mystery to me. In IE they stream as per normal, but in Firefox HTTP streaming speed will be 0 kbps until suddenly the video is completely loaded and can play. I've asked around on the Firefox and youtube forums, apparently there are a few others experiencing this.

Thanks again for the reply, and I hope I haven't explained it in too cumbersome, inexpert or roundabout a way. English isn't my first language, unfortunately.

Hello everyone,

I finally caved in and did a reformat and clean install of Windows. It seems to have fixed the problem for now, and a few others besides. A damned odd thing it was, though, and one I'd like to get to the bottom of someday in case of a recurrence.

Thanks for all the assistance rendered in this thread!