Acer Aspire 3 freezes when I watch Youtube videos on Google Chrome

Nowi276

I own an Acer Aspire 3 laptop since I first bought it in 2021 and the PC showed no signs of any issues. Recently I have noticed that my laptop freezes when I watch Youtube videos on Chrome at night, especially police videos after 1 or 2 PM. During the day, the laptop runs fine with multitasking windows. (Youtube and an art program side by side).

Additionally, there have been a line of bars running down my screen and I have waited a total of 5 min for it to unfreeze. Sighing, I did a hard reset (forcing a shutdown on the power button) Reboot worked fine and data on SSD is still there. Does anyone know what's causing this issue? It could be Chrome's cookie settings or my graphic drivers on my laptop. It only happened twice.

(P.S: I could use Firefox, Opera, Brave etc., but all my Gmail workload is saved on Chrome.)

Image below depicts the issue. Highlighted in red are the glitching bars across the screen.

A reply would be appreciated! :)

Sharanji

Nowi276

Let's break it down and see if we can get things running smoothly again.

Freezing Issue on Chrome
To tackle the freezing issue on Chrome, start by clearing your cache and cookies, as accumulated data can slow things down. Head to Chrome settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data. Next, make sure your Chrome browser is up to date by going to Chrome settings > About Chrome. If the problem continues, try disabling extensions one by one to see if any are causing the issue. Also, turn off hardware acceleration by going to Chrome settings > Advanced > System and switching off "Use hardware acceleration when available." If none of these steps work, try uninstalling Chrome completely and reinstalling it to fix any potential corrupted installation.

Screen Bars Issue
For the screen bars issue, begin by updating your graphics drivers through Device Manager, as outdated or corrupted drivers can cause display problems. Check for any physical damage to the screen or connecting cables. Run a diagnostic test using Acer's built-in tools to identify any hardware issues. Additionally, connect your laptop to an external monitor to see if the problem persists; if the external monitor works fine, the issue might be with your laptop screen.

General Troubleshooting
For general troubleshooting, start by running a system file check to repair any corrupted system files. Open Command Prompt as an administrator and type sfc /scannow. Next, perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflicts by opening the Run dialog (Windows + R), typing msconfig, and disabling all non-Microsoft services under the Services tab. If the issues persist, consider performing a factory reset, but remember to back up your data before doing so.

Nowi276

1. I already cleared my Cookies and Cache. I hope it no longer freezes tonight.
2. I have to update my Graphics driver. I'll let you know what happens after that. :)

I hope that nothing interferes with the performance of my laptop.😅

Nowi276

@Sharanji

Update: Third time happening. Wanted to hover my mouse over YT video player and see how much is left. Whelp, the bars scattered over my screen and it froze. (Sigh) 😪

Ignore Helios’ zoomed in face to the right. Was multitasking on the Beyblade Wiki. 😅

Could it be that I’m running two Chrome windows or could it be my graphics card driver? 🤔

Nowi276

Update: Found the culprit.

Graphics driver called VJoy was corrupted and froze my screen at a certain time after 12 PM. I uninstalled the driver and turned off Hardware / Graphics acceleration on Chrome's settings. Hope the issue doesn't occur again.

Axxo

Let us do the basic steps first. First of all, we need to find out whether it is a hardware or software issue. Here are some of the steps to speed up or increase the performance your computer.  Try windows + r -  on the run window - type msconfig  - click ok  
click on services
check - hide all microsoft services 
click on disable all
click on startup 
disable all the startup items 
click on apply - ok  - restart the computer.     Loading process will be very fast now..Note: You can always enable the services and startup items later or set it to normal startup from selective startup later on the General tab  Try windows + r - on the run window - type appwiz.cpl  - click ok  

it will show you the list of programs
remove all the unwanted third party programs. 
Please don’t remove any drivers.  
If you are not sure , please don’t remove it.  Try windows + r - on the run window type temp - click ok -  it will show you the bunch of files -  try ctrl + a - select all files - press the shift key and click on delete files Try windows + r - on the run window type  %temp%  - click ok  - It will show you the bunch of files -  try ctrl + a - select all files - press the shift key and click on delete files If you are not able to remove some files - click on skip and then click click on continue.. Try windows + r  - on the run window - type cleanmgr - click ok
click on all the boxes except recycle bin and thumnail

Delete the items which are checked Try windows x - on the menu - chose command prompt admin or power shell admin 
click on yes 
on the blue or black window  type sfc /scannow 
It will be running till 100 %Try to do a chrome reset 
open chrome
click on three dots on top right corner 
click on settings
Scroll down - go to advanced
click on restore setting to default
you will see reset settings - cancel
click on reset settings 

Open chrome 
it will work faster nowIf it is still not working then we have to do a refresh and resetclick on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started or on start - type here to search - type reset this pc - click on reset this pc on the top  - click on get started It will show you keep my files and remove everything
chose keep my files 
chose the account - type the password - click on local reinstall - click on reset 
It will be in progress.. 
login to computer and start using the computer. 
If it is still not working click on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started 
chose remove everything 

click on local reinstall - just remove my files - click on reset
It will be in progressNote:If you do refresh ( keep my files ) -  all your personal files like pictures, music , documents , videos  will still be intact.   Only the applications will be lostIf you do reset  ( remove everything )  - you are doing a factory default.   It will become like a day one computer.    It will wipe out everything and take your computer to day one like a new computer. You can also do the recovery in an alternative way..There are two alt keys on the keyboard.  If you look at the bottom row of keyboard you can see the one on the left side of space bar and the other on the right side of space bar.  The alt key on the right side will be looking like alt, alt gr or alt car.  Turn off the computer. 

Hold the alt key on the left and tap f10 continuously.   It will go to repair mode. It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot.   If it is not going to repair mode, turn off the computer.  Turn on the computer.  Hold the right alt key ( alt gr or alt car or alt )  and then tap f10 continuously.  It will go to chose an option continue and troubleshoot..It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot
Go to troubleshoot  -  click on reset this pc
click on keep my files  ( only applications will be lost )   chose your account and type your password   - click on local reinstall  - click on reset

It will be in progress If the keep my files option is not working Go to troubleshoot  -  click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – just remove my files – click on reset 
It will reinstall windows. If the just remove my files is not working..Go to troubleshoot  -  click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – Fully clean the drive – click on reset 
It will reinstall windows. Note: You can also go to chose an option , continue , troubleshoot by holding the alt key + tapping f10  or alt gr + tapping f10 on the keyboard while turning on the computer.    Once you see the troubleshoot option, you can stop tapping the f10 and stop holding the alt key.   

Then you can try the keep my files and remove everything ( just remove by files and fully clean the drive ) by following the steps which was mentioned above. 

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