chromebook

[oldagepensioner]

Right for my sins i bought an Acer 314 Chromebook about 6 months ago.No issues until recently but in spite of googles hype i have been advised by currys to install an anti virus.My question is which is best given that of the free ones i have looked into they either won't work with Chromebook or receive crap reviews.

[dontfollowme]

Skip the AV unless you are going to places that are particularly dodgy. They were probably after a sale.

[ARHarh]

Why would you believe a virus protection salesman? If you wish to.believe said salesman you would probably be advised to buy what he is selling.
You really don't need it.
Now every one who has bought one of these products will.tell you I am wrong.

[Corso Marche]

You don't need an AV program on a Chromebook. The OS itself has many protective elements. It's those elements which mean that not only can a virus not install itself but equally something like an AV program cannot be installed.

It's coming close to Christmas, an in-store sales person is just looking for commission/bonuses as it's a peak sales time in the year and a chance to sell and make money.

[dickymint]

I dumped Windows 6 or more years ago for a Chromebook and have never looked back. Never had AV and had zero issues! I do have Ghostery ad blocker on it. I also use a VPN that I switch on/off mainly for sport and other 'dodgy' stuff Don't waste your money.

[the-norseman]

AV is not needed.

[oldagepensioner]

Thanks for this.The man at currys reckoned he always installed one on his Chromebooks but as you say he was probably after a sale but would someone then be able to help me out.In the last few weeks i have had the following happen when i try to watch UKTVplay/ITVX/BBCIplayer and You tube.Of these 4 YT is already loaded and the other 3 i already had them set up on my previous laptop(windows10) so just had to log in.On UKTVplay it frequently will log out spontaneously and i have to reload it only for it to return to a random point in the program.On all of these it will also at random fade the volume to silence,pause when playing or start playing when paused again at random.Sorry if this is a bit long winded but i thought it best to give as much detail as possible.Any clues would be welcome but i should warn you i am not great with tech.

[dickymint]

oldagepensioner said:

Thanks for this.The man at currys reckoned he always installed one on his Chromebooks but as you say he was probably after a sale but would someone then be able to help me out.In the last few weeks i have had the following happen when i try to watch UKTVplay/ITVX/BBCIplayer and You tube.Of these 4 YT is already loaded and the other 3 i already had them set up on my previous laptop(windows10) so just had to log in.On UKTVplay it frequently will log out spontaneously and i have to reload it only for it to return to a random point in the program.On all of these it will also at random fade the volume to silence,pause when playing or start playing when paused again at random.Sorry if this is a bit long winded but i thought it best to give as much detail as possible.Any clues would be welcome but i should warn you i am not great with tech.

Don't know if it helps but I don't use apps on mine I just bookmark the relevant home homepages.

[Corso Marche]

oldagepensioner said:

Thanks for this.The man at currys reckoned he always installed one on his Chromebooks but as you say he was probably after a sale but would someone then be able to help me out.In the last few weeks i have had the following happen when i try to watch UKTVplay/ITVX/BBCIplayer and You tube.Of these 4 YT is already loaded and the other 3 i already had them set up on my previous laptop(windows10) so just had to log in.On UKTVplay it frequently will log out spontaneously and i have to reload it only for it to return to a random point in the program.On all of these it will also at random fade the volume to silence,pause when playing or start playing when paused again at random.Sorry if this is a bit long winded but i thought it best to give as much detail as possible.Any clues would be welcome but i should warn you i am not great with tech.

It's not clear if you're using the apps from the Play Store or viewing in the browser.
If using installed apps remove/uninstall them and just use the browser instead.

[dickymint]

Corso Marche said:

oldagepensioner said:

Thanks for this.The man at currys reckoned he always installed one on his Chromebooks but as you say he was probably after a sale but would someone then be able to help me out.In the last few weeks i have had the following happen when i try to watch UKTVplay/ITVX/BBCIplayer and You tube.Of these 4 YT is already loaded and the other 3 i already had them set up on my previous laptop(windows10) so just had to log in.On UKTVplay it frequently will log out spontaneously and i have to reload it only for it to return to a random point in the program.On all of these it will also at random fade the volume to silence,pause when playing or start playing when paused again at random.Sorry if this is a bit long winded but i thought it best to give as much detail as possible.Any clues would be welcome but i should warn you i am not great with tech.

It's not clear if you're using the apps from the Play Store or viewing in the browser.
If using installed apps remove/uninstall them and just use the browser instead.

[oldagepensioner]

The only installed app is you tube the others are all from the browser.

[Corso Marche]

First place to begin checking is what browser extensions you have installed.

Don't login to your Chromebook but instead use Guest mode after booting up.
Then login to those players using your existing account details for each of them and try using the players as normal.

If the same issues don't occur when in Guest mode then you've likely got some browser extension installed which is creating issues.

If that proves to be the case then disable the extensions one at a time until you find the culprit.

A VPN could be another likely culprit, if you have one running then turn it off and see how things go.

[superpp]

Try a Powerwash on your Chromebook, this basically does a factory reset.
It's under Settings, Advanced, Reset Settings.

As it's a Chromebook you just log back into your Google account and it's set up again.
And us others have said, AV isn't required.

[Corso Marche]

A power wash is always a good idea. But it doesn't negate the possibility of browser extensions causing grief, as when you sign back in all the users browser extensions will be automatically reinstalled.

But using the Guest mode is a clean slate for establishing whether it's a website and browser compatibility issue, as Guest mode is totally clean with nothing installed.

[oldagepensioner]

The only extension i found was an ad blocker which i don't remember installing so i assume was a legacy of my old windows laptop?.I do still though have the problem of having to reload UKTV play and probably the other commercial stations as this is the only one i have tried.

[Corso Marche]

1) You need to test them all. In Guest mode, not in your account.
(Make a note of your passwords for each one to make it easier)

2) Check how much free space is remaining on your internal storage.
Best to have a minimum of 4GB of local storage free at all times.

[oldagepensioner]

Problem solved i think.Purely by chance i noticed i was having problems with my headphones.If i fiddled with the cable it would pause whatever i was watching and restart if i fiddled with it again.The headphones were just some cheap Goodmans that i bought from my local B&M.Replaced them with a set of JVC and the problems seem to have all gone away.