Browser is Locking-up When Playing Video?

Win 7, 64-bit
Chrome, FireFox, IE9 (all latest versions)
Adobe Flash Player, Java (all latest version)
Ad Muncher
NIS 2012
WinPatrol Plus
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For about the past month or so, I've been having an issue with my browser completely locking up/freezing (for about 30 secs) whenever I view any video (youtube, yahoo, etc).

This only happens the 1st time (cold start or any reboot) I try to play/view a video in my browser and not thereafter.

Initially I thought it was an issue with my default browser (Firefox) but the same issue is happening with IE9 and Chrome (which I just recently installed).

When using Chrome, I get a pop-up window saying that "Shockwave Player has stopped working" when the video freezes.....then several seconds later, the box disappears and the video starts playing normally.

I'm going to assume that it's a problem with Shockwave player....but I don't know what to look for or how to go about fixing it.

Anyone else has this issue and any suggestions for a fix please? Thanks.

 

any more clues in event viewer logs (errors, warnings)? does it happen on any site the first time? If you disable NIS temporarily does it make a difference?

 

Nothing related in event logs and yes it happens in any site when trying to launch a video. Disabling NIS did not make a difference. I even un-installed and re-installed Flash Player + Shockwave Player but still a no-go.

Strange.

 

Do you clean browser history - cache. You can also try running CCleaner it may make a difference if you dont already.

 

Try uninstalling Shockwave Player or updating it to the latest version.

 

Culprit was Ad Muncher. Disabled it and the issue went away. Enabled it again (after reboot) and problem returned. Weird because I've used AM for many years now and only recently I started having this hiccup.

 

I noticed in the past when I use some dns services ad muncher acts up. Are you using Norton DNS? Do you have ad muncher excluded from being scanned by Norton? (I'm assuming NIS is Norton Internet Security)

 

Not using Norton DNS, just the "Antiphishing" feature" for webpages.

Should I add Ad Muncher to the "Items to Exclude from Scans" as seen below.....and should AM be excluded anywhere else in NIS 2012? Thanks.