Resolved Freeonlinegames.com problem

I have used freeonlinegames.com for several years with no problems. However for several months I can only log on very intermittently with no consistency. I know it requires flash and shockwave and I'm current with both. I'm on a desktop with xp sp3 and use Kaspersky.
We also have a new laptop with Windows 7 and have no problems but the games don't play as well. I know this is not real important but I can't play golf all the time and am curious to know what is different. I haven't changed anything that I'm aware of. Thank You for any ideas.

 

Hi rodrocket,

I don't know what to tell you about your intermittent log in problem. I'm sure that what I could suggest you've already done such as deletion or
1) Emptying of temp, cache and cookies. Check for problems that may be related if you allow browser to keep and remember passwords.
2) Scanning for and making sure sure your malware/adware/virus clean.
3) Keeping in mind that site problems are not always caused at your end but may be server ended. They could just be busy or overloaded, due to momentary heavy traffic.
4) When problem occurs, using task manager and keeping track of anything running (at the same time as log in attempt) that ordinarily doesn't and, over time, noticing if "that something" is a process that the computer has in common when being fussy.
5) Related to the above, I noticed that games and ads are all "Flash" served. Your log-in and these adds just may be causing a race condition, on occasion. This would be intermittent or hit and miss timing for a fuss.

I did notice that this site is embeddable and mentions "face book ". Could this be a factor?

Now that the above is asked, I am curious what logging in offers you. None of these games require logging in to play. Why must you log in?

Never mind, out of curiosity, I created an account for myself, I can see that "saved games" and a list of such are offered when logged in as well community or friend/family socials.

 

Thank you Goddez1 for your interest. Yes I have done all of the above. For clarity I do not really "log on" as in sign in with name and password although I have done so to try to get a response from the actual site with no success.
They have made many changes recently but I don't think that's my problem since I can get into the site on my wife's laptop. The game selected used to load and play but now when I can get one the only it will play is with a right click with the mouse and selecting "play ". However this option doesn't come up very often. I don't know why the options would be presented differently at different times.
I wrote commercial accounting and manufacturing programs for IBM mid-range computers for over 25 years and "random" is the hardest bug to kill. I have not stayed current with latest programming technology since I retired. I just want the **** thing to work.

 

Site uses Java scripting perhaps your browser security or a security program is preventing or blocking this from running properly?

You could experiment in temporarily lowering security, if set higher than normal or you have adjusted it to disable java, via browser options>security tab. You may also try adding site to your safe list to see if this helps. Have a look at Kaspersky and see what can be done on that level.

Is this the only site that gives you this kind of problem?

What browser and version are you using? You have an alternate or #2 browser? If so does site load and act the same in both browsers?

--------------------

Uninstall & reinstall java from here:
http://www.java.com/en/

 

Goddez1, Thanks again for your interest. I was one click behind on Java and have installed the newest version. I use Mozilla Firefox and have tried Opera and IE8 with the same results. I tried a couple of times very briefly with Kaspersky disabled with no luck. I think it must be some conflict between shockwav and something else. I notice that there are always several errors on the error log but there always are because many people write such junk code. On the rare occasions that the site works I don't find anything different but I think something must be getting turned on that keeps shockwave from working properly. Thanks again, Rodrocket

 

Does this site have similar problems if you don't sign in to your account but just play a game directly?

Is this the only time or site you have flash or shockwave player problems?

How many Games do you have listed in your account favorites? Have you tried clearing or reducing this list?For that matter haveyou tried changing or adjusting your "settings" for "freeonlinegames ", available on the top right side after a sign in.

Tried making a new "freeonlinegames" account?

Are you keeping track of taskmanger processes to see if an occasional or running task is showing up when site is fussy?

-------------------
test 'em:
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/

 

I don't sign in ever, I just try to play a game directly. I'm not aware of any other problems with either shockwave or flash player and I'm up to date on both. When I try a game I get the black screen which says "the game will load in a minute "
The only task active of note is something called "plugin-container.exe owner "
I have signed in to an account to see if it makes a difference but it doesn't.
Thanks again for your interest, rodrocket

 

How long are you waiting for the game to load before you lose patience? This process can take awhile. It does seem to either load an ad in front of the game or some type of "minigame ", on occasion. I assume this is based on the game and the server it's coming from. You must wait out the loading of the game which is going on behind this ad.

Your making me feel guilty. I've been poking at and playing games from this site for 3 days now and have not had a problem one. I also use Firefox but have windows 7 instead of xp. How's that for a bit of salt sprinkled into your wounds?

We've tried just about every thing that is usually suggested for this type of problem. Haven't tried turning off firewall or asking if you have any additional popup blocker, I have windows firewall on and this doesn't seem to be an issue. I don't hold much hope in that being a problem. Since this problem seems to occur:
1) regardless of browser
2) only with this site, on other sites flash and java work as it should
3) intermittent
4) have cleaned temp and cookies
5) checked IE's security, since many settings are shared by Firefox
6) checked Kaspersky/disabled it also
I tend to lean towards some background application you have may running in systray or loaded as start-up. Other wise a plug-in that would be in common between all browsers. Can you disable all plug-ins for Firefox other than those needed for the running of Firefox and flash?

FYI:
Plug-in container is from Firefox and is used to keep Firefox from crashing when it is having problem Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plug-ins. If one of those plug-ins crashes, this keeps your whole browser from crashing. This was done due to the large number of crashes caused by plug-ins.

 

I can go away for the day. Seriously, that's not the problem, I'm running fios and just this minute it tested at 90 mbps at speakeasy. I have 2 gig of memory and an amd athlon 64 running at 2.2 ghz. On the laptop it comes right up in a very few seconds. I think I need to compare the settings for flashdrive between the two machines. What I don't understand is that it worked fine until recently.

 

Hi again,

I may have edited and added a few more points, that you may have missed, to my previous thread numbered #8. I forgot to post it, when I was done typing it. It sat open ended for a good two hours before I finally posted. Apparently you had come with a followup and left while I was in the posting void. I just thought I'd draw your attention to the additions, in particular:

You mention amd 64. Is this 64bit? That makes me wonder if you have Firefox "officially set and designated" as default browser or IE, more to the point IE 64bit which does not support Flash. One must use IE 32bit. I'm just thinking out loud here and am in unfamiliar territory but I wonder if something along this line may be problematic. I may be way off base with this but I thought I'd throw it there for consideration. (Firefox and IE do share many security settings)

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You are aware that Firefox has offered at least two updates to its self in the last week or two, aren't you? Up to version 3.6.8 now.

 

Yes, I'm up to date with Firefox 3.6.8 although I prefer to wait a couple of weeks(I have learned the hard way not to jump too soon). I just disabled all my plugins except Java and shockwave flash with no luck.
Firefox is for sure my default browser. I'm thinking you're right that I have something set at startup or running in the background that is preventing flash from running properly. It might have been something I caused but most likely something installed for me by third party software installations. I have done several this year. Isn't this fun?

 

Hi rodrocket,

I haven't abandoned you. I just misplaced you for a bit.

Made any progress on this? Done anything new to try to solve this?

Have you tried logging in on another account or logging in on your own using an msconfig diagnostic startup (general tab and boot tab have options that you may wish to explore)?


Msconfig was just thrown in because I hate to post a thread and be empty handed. The fact that this is an "intermittent" problem may put the "Msconfig Diagnostic startups" approach into the "not the best choice" category. This is a real head scratcher, though, and as I am running out of ideas, scrapping the bottom of the barrel is what I have been reduced to.

Speaking of which, how sure are you that your malware/viral clean?
I can offer a few same or similar game sites, if interested.

 

Hi Goddez1 - I finally went into msconfig and stopped a couple of things I didn't like anyway. I do a virus check and malware pretty regularly but even though I have turned Kaspersky off and tried to access the site I went into the setup options and turned off the banner prevention feature and lo and behold it worked. I have had some trouble with Kaspersky before with a conflict between them and Firefox. The tech people at Kaspersky were very helpful at that time and we resolved that problem. It's too bad when a problem is caused by something that's only trying to help. I don't understand the intermittent part of it, maybe the site doesn't always send out banners.
Thanks so much for your interest and help I think I will call this mess solved!

 

Yahoo!

I'm so glad you finally figured this out. I could have sworn Kaspersky was already eliminated, earlier, as a suspect but I am still glad this problem is behind you. Add blocking/popup stopper was a prime suspect, for this site which uses both.

Your most welcome and thank you for the update and sharing the fix.

Can you please mark this post as resolved?