What Is This

[Sonny Jenkins]

I went to "Programs" to uninstall Java,,,saw about 10-12 programs called Microsoft Visual++Redistributable, dated 2005 through 2012. What are these? Seems like they are taking a lot of space?

Does Java Oracle have anything to do with video buffering or being so intermittent?

[Wiz Feinberg]

The Visual++ are updates to video codecs used by Windows, as well as graphics components.

Java is not normally part of a video display. Rather, Java is used as a component of a program, or as a stand alone desktop or browser program. Think back to the Desk Mates of 1997 or 1998. They were constructed from Java programming language, as desktop playmates and animals that interacted to touch from a mouse pointer.

OTOH, Flash and browser version has a lot to do with website video playback.

Your Internet connection can cause buffering if too many people in your local, or wide area network are actively downloading streaming media or huge files.

Another thing that can lead to streaming media buffering and stuttering is excessive outgoing signals from your computer. Normally, a personal computer is a receiver, accepting input from home and afar. But, when you send requests for web pages, email, cloud services, or hosted web site ftp connections, you are sending signals out. Too much outgoing traffic will stifle your incoming connections, depending on your service level from your ISP.

Think of your Internet access as a water pipe system. When you turn on your kitchen taps, the water usually runs strongly. But, turn on your hose or shower and something has to give. The same can be said for a residential Internet hookup. There is only so much incoming and so much outgoing capacity granted by your ISP. Factor in everybody watering their lawn at the same time (watching videos, downloading big files) and things naturally slow down.

First, scan your own computer for outgoing botnet activity. If active spam or DDoS bots are found, take the PC offline until it has been completely disinfected by a professional.

Next, contact your ISP and ask if there are bandwidth or throughput issues in your location. Check your outside connections for loose or corroded connectors. Have the ISP ping your modem and test for signal loss.

[Anders Eriksson]

I went to "Programs" to uninstall Java,,,saw about 10-12 programs called Microsoft Visual++Redistributable, dated 2005 through 2012. What are these? Seems like they are taking a lot of space?

it is a number of dll's and header files that programs made by Microsoft Visual C++ uses. Different versions of Visual C++ uses different Redistributable versions, which is why you have multiple versions.

It's not recommended to uninstall these. If you do the program that need the dll's will not work anymore!

// Anders