Windows 7 32bit vs 64bit win7

[billyc99]

I watch a great deal of Netflix on my PC. I have noticed lately that while watching a program a great deal of buffering goes on. I run Auslogics defragmenter. Does disk fragmentation have anything to do with my issue? I must connect to a VPN as i live in a country where Netflix is not supported. I am thinking that I either need to increase my memory, I am running win7 32 bit, usable memory is only 3.5 GB of which I have installed 4GB or install win7 64bit and increase my memory capability, will my buffering problem be solved? Maybe this is a server problem, although i don't think so. I have a 64bit disk. My specs appear below.

Operating System
Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 5/9/2013 9:21:52 PM
Processor a
2.40 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9750 Quad-Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded
Drives
2160.43 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1942.20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

ATAPI iHES208 2 ATA Device [Optical drive]
SONY DVD RW DRU-V200A ATA Device [Optical drive]
TDK DVDRW1280B ATA Device [Optical drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Sony USB HS-CF Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 5
Sony USB HS-MS Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 7
Sony USB HS-SD Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 8
Sony USB HS-xD/SM USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 6
USB2.0 CardReader CF RW USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
USB2.0 CardReader Combo USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
WD 1600JB External USB Device [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 1
WDC WD10 EARS-00Y5B1 USB Device [Hard drive] (1000.20 GB) -- drive 2, s/n 152D20337A0C
WDC WD10EARS-22Y5B1 [Hard drive] (1000.20 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAV5J478071, rev 80.00A80, SMART Status: Healthy
Users(mouse over user name for details)
local user accounts
last logon
Bill
8/31/2013 4:38:16 PM
(admin)
UpdatusUser
8/31/2013 9:13:37 AM
local system accounts
Administrator
7/14/2009 1:53:58 PM
(admin)
Guest
never
Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account
Controllers
Standard floppy disk controller
ATA Channel 0 [Controller] (2x)
ATA Channel 1 [Controller] (2x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (2x)
Bus Adapters
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller (2x)
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (5x)
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (2x)
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
Virus Protection[Back to Top]
AVG AntiVirus Free Edition 2013
Communications
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
↓ Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Status:
Cable unplugged
Dhcp Server:
none responded
Physical Address:
1C:6F:65:44:A9:2C
↑ Realtek RTL8188SU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter
primary
Auto IP Address:
192.168.1.4 / 24
Gateway:
192.168.1.1
Dhcp Server:
192.168.1.1
Physical Address:
00:13:33:AE:3D:7D
Connection Speed:
54 Mbps
↑ TAP-Windows Adapter V9
Auto IP Address:
10.200.2.47 / 22
Dhcp Server:
10.200.3.254
Physical Address:
00:FF:AE:E1:5F:AA
Connection Speed:
10 Mbps
Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Networking Dns Servers:
192.168.1.1
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
USB Storage Use in past 30 Days (mouse over last used for details)
Last Used
Sony USB HS-SD Card -- drive 8, s/n 00000013AB01, rev 5.23
8/31/2013 9:10:59 AM
Sony USB HS-CF Card -- drive 5, s/n 00000013AB01, rev 5.23
8/31/2013 9:10:58 AM
Sony USB HS-MS Card -- drive 7, s/n 00000013AB01, rev 5.23
8/31/2013 9:10:58 AM
Sony USB HS-xD/SM -- drive 6, s/n 00000013AB01, rev 5.23
8/31/2013 9:10:58 AM
USB2.0 CardReader CF RW -- drive 3, s/n 698207856244, rev 0.0>
8/31/2013 9:10:57 AM
USB2.0 CardReader Combo -- drive 4, s/n 698207856244, rev 0.0>
8/31/2013 9:10:57 AM
WDC WD10 EARS-00Y5B1 -- drive 2, s/n 000001D91CA0
8/31/2013 9:10:57 AM
WD 1600JB External -- drive 1, s/n WD-WCANM6931718, rev 0107
8/31/2013 9:10:54 AM
Hitachi HTS545050B9A300, s/n 090906B44007
8/30/2013 6:54:29 PM*
Any assistance is greatly appreciated, as always. Cheers and beers to all!

 

[badrobot]

Your hardware is okay.
One important thing about streaming is connection speed. Specially when you are watching HD contents. Also, bottleneck in your home network is another factor. If you are watching Netflix and someone else is connected to the network with high bandwidth activity, it will greatly affect your streaming. If possible, use wired connection for better and stable connection. And if your router has a QoS feature (Quality of Service), you can configure your router to give high bandwidth priority to video streaming.

It can also be a server bottleneck problem in your area. Specially in the evening when everyone is winding down watching movies.

 

[Pauli]

I must commend you, billyc99, for the system specs you give.

Nothing much to add to badrobot's reply, it would probably be a matter of connection speed. I have 18Mb right now, and not watching HD, I still have some stalling now and then. Just like badrobot writes and suggests, the speed varies. Getting a better connection = private = costs more, is the only solution. But true speeds don't always match with what the seller tells. Big surprise?

About defrag, it's debatable. It's very heavy on the disk, because it is intense reading / writing. I've used Auslogics, a very nice program, but you shouldn't have it to defrag daily or such. Unless you're an intense installer / uninstaller / saver / deleter, once a month is enough. Go figure.

Best of all.

 

[strollin]

The spec you left out, that actually is the most important one, is your connection speed. Disk, memory, cpu, etc... all take a backseat to connection speed and quality of connection when streaming.

We had only a 1.5M connection speed for quite awhile but could watch Netflix with little to no buffering as long as no one else in the house was using bandwidth. We now have a 4M connection and can watch Netflix with almost no buffering.

 

[billyc99]

Badrobot, Pauli, and Strollin. thank you for your inputs. I am the only one in the household using a PC. I am using a WPA Wireless Network Key...Not sure what my connection speed is. Using a Realtek 11n USB adapter to communicate with the Router. The USB Adapter utility is showing me 56Mbps...the signal strength from my router shows 98%~100%. The router is supplied from the local server...NTT...OCN here in Japan. Guess I need to call the Server and ask them what my speed from the router is. Not to clear on that. Will keep you all posted. Cheers and beers/Wine!

 

[Pauli]

You have any programs running in the background? You can find out about that by Ctrl+Alt+Del and > Task Manager

I've understood that AVG Antivirus may take a lot of resources. And sometimes, some programs may take a lot.

 

[badrobot]

If you want to check your connection speed, go to speedtest.net on your laptop and wait until "Begin Test" appears on the screen and click on it. At least 15Mbps should work okay with streaming.