I have noticed on many occasions that when I try to watch videos with Quicktime on my Macbook it seems to download for a few seconds then a question mark appears in the middle of the 'Q'......and then nothing.

This happens when attempting to watch videos on the joke section of TV, it has also happened when I attempt to watch videos on a certain popular video site amongst others.

I have made 100% certain that everything is updated and the very same videos work on my PC.

So is there something I don't know about the compatability of Quicktime and Mac or is it better to do away with Quicktime?

Thanks in advance.

If anything it works better for me after all Apple created quicktime. Try updating to the latest version. Could be a bad internet connection also. Also run Software Update on the mac.

I have been having problems with quick time lately, some things I downloaded would be all juddery and stop. I have had my iBook for years and recently got a new macbook and all is well. I think that the machine was so old it couldn't keep up despite upgrades etc.

Thanks Dekka, but I have already tried and I am certain that all is updated. My internet connection is pretty good for downloads/uploads etc. The problem seems to be with Quicktime, or, as it would appear from what you say, with me.

The latest error, in fact the one that prompted my OP, came about while trying to download something from the jokes page here on TV.

I should maybe point out that this is my first Mac and I won't claim to know everything.

Ruddy computers.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

Works great, plays everything

Thanks for that Richard. I agree it is good, but I already have it. Is quicktime the default player on Macs? If not, can it be dumped?

It is really bugging me as I just checked my email only to find that it wouldn't play the advert on the Hotmail page. Just a blank 'Q' and the dreaded question mark.

Any ideas?

Are you trying to open actual quicktime files? .mov or Shockwave Flash files? .swf

The resaon I ask, is because you mention an advert on the Hotmail page and as far as I know, MS would not have a quicktime movie there. Try installing the latest Flash Player for mac and see if that fixes your problem. Get it from www.adobe.com

Thanks for that Richard. I agree it is good, but I already have it. Is quicktime the default player on Macs? If not, can it be dumped?

It is really bugging me as I just checked my email only to find that it wouldn't play the advert on the Hotmail page. Just a blank 'Q' and the dreaded question mark.

Any ideas?

Why do you want to play an advert on the hotmail page?

Anyway, you can change all your defaults for all formats to VLAN. Maybe you have set it so QuickTime plays Flash or something.

Personally, I am a big fan of Apple but QuickTime is one of those things that majorly blows and continues to blow and I don't understand why they don't dump it, snazz up VLAN player a bit and use that. Once upon a time QT was excellent but that's a long time ago. Nowadays, it mostly amazes me by the sheer amount of formats it attempts to play for me only to fail miserably.

Phew! I'll have to re-read some of that advice and work it out, but thanks all the same.

I agree my reference to the Hotmail advert didn't make as much sense as I hoped. I didn't actually Want to play it. What i meant was when you check your Hotmail there are usually adverts playing (new phones, car insurance and such like), but all I get is a Q with a ? in the middle.

I'll get on to changing my default to VLAN, but just in case somebody who doesn't have a clue is reading this, would somebody like to post information as how to do so.

I can hardy distinguish between magic and technology, but give me a set of spanners and I'm your man.

Go and install Flip4Mac's WIndows Media plugin - you are trying to play AVI/WMV files, which QT does not support by default. Flip4Mac will properly play them after installation.

You can also install 'Perian' additionally for support of some other odd formats (including a52 audio). Either way, VLAN player will work nicely with content that can be played independently, but not embedded content.

Im an Apple guy, but i must admit that QTime isnt very nice. Actually, its pretty horrible.

As said above, Flip4mac is great. Solved all my problems with QTime, but im still left with a sour taste! I love my mac for sure and would never go back to a PC now that i can run windows for my games on the Mac, but it just doesnt have the same ease of use as the many windows apps out there.

but it just doesnt have the same ease of use as the many windows apps out there.

You're very funny, you know that...

One of the recent Apple software upgrades included an upgrade to Quicktime. The version many people got was corrupt and it has caused issues in odd ways; it crashes The Sims 2 game, for example. If this is your problem you need to go to the Quicktime website and manually download and install the latest version of Quicktime. Just doing another Apple software upgrade won't fix it, as you already have the new version.

DaffyDuck is right. Alternatlvey you can hold the option/alt button down when you click on a link. That will download the actual file to your Mac and you should be able to see what type of file it is. I also highly recommend you get vlc, flip4mac and mac divx.

You need to install a flash player. You have Quicktime to play Flash files which is why you have some difficulties. Open up Quicktime and go in the preferences, you should see somewhere where it says "MIME". Make sure that you only have Quicktime files selected there.