Force YouTube to buffer your entire video

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100052479 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/09/youtube-center-100052479-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/browsers" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Back in the good old days, when you started watching a YouTube video, the entire thing would download (or "buffer") in the background, thus ensuring a relatively smooth playback experience.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you had a slow connection, you could simply pause the video until you saw the "buffer bar" complete its journey from left to right. But thanks to YouTube's switch to a new protocol (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, or DASH, if you're interested), that trick no longer works.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Now, when you play a video, YouTube buffers only a small amount. And that can lead to stuttering, frequently interrupted playback.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Thanks to a browser add-on called<a href="https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">YouTube Center</a>, it's now possible to disable DASH, thus forcing YouTube to buffer your entire video.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That's the good news. The bad news is that it can be a little tricky to install depending on which browser you use. The Firefox crowd has it easy: Just grab the extension via <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/youtube-center/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mozilla's Add-Ons library</a> (assuming you're okay with installing a "non-reviewed" extension).</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As a Chrome user, I had to jump through a few hoops. Here's the process:</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">1. <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13162258/YouTube%20Center/YouTubeCenter.crx" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Download YouTube Center</a> in the form of a .CRX file, which was designed for the Opera browser but will also work in Chrome. Ignore any error message you see regarding compatibility.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">2. In Chrome, click the <em style>Settings</em> button, then click <em style>Tools, Extensions</em> to open the Extensions tab.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> 3. Drag the downloaded .CRX file to that Extensions tab, then agree to the installation request.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">4. Now open YouTube in a new tab. You should immediately see the YouTube Center settings window. (If not, click the little gear icon in the upper-right corner of the YouTube screen.)</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">5. Click <em style>Player</em>, then clear the checkbox next to DASH. Close the YouTube Center window and you're done!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Now, when you start a video, you'll see the buffer bar run all the way to the right, indicating that the full video is queued for playback, not just a few seconds' worth.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> By the way, the developer offers a tutorial for <a href="https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki/How-to-use-YouTube-Center-with-Internet-Explorer" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">installing YouTube Center in Internet Explorer</a>, which definitely isn't easy. Sorry, novices, you may want to sit this one out.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As you've no doubt noticed, YouTube Center offers a wealth of other options besides DASH disabling. Feel free to poke around and share any cool tricks you find!</p></span>

Force YouTube to buffer your entire video

Back in the good old days, when you started watching a YouTube video, the entire thing would download (or "buffer") in the backg...

Read more »

Force YouTube to buffer your entire video

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100052479 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/09/youtube-center-100052479-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/browsers" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Back in the good old days, when you started watching a YouTube video, the entire thing would download (or "buffer") in the background, thus ensuring a relatively smooth playback experience.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you had a slow connection, you could simply pause the video until you saw the "buffer bar" complete its journey from left to right. But thanks to YouTube's switch to a new protocol (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, or DASH, if you're interested), that trick no longer works.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Now, when you play a video, YouTube buffers only a small amount. And that can lead to stuttering, frequently interrupted playback.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Thanks to a browser add-on called<a href="https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">YouTube Center</a>, it's now possible to disable DASH, thus forcing YouTube to buffer your entire video.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That's the good news. The bad news is that it can be a little tricky to install depending on which browser you use. The Firefox crowd has it easy: Just grab the extension via <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/youtube-center/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mozilla's Add-Ons library</a> (assuming you're okay with installing a "non-reviewed" extension).</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As a Chrome user, I had to jump through a few hoops. Here's the process:</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">1. <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13162258/YouTube%20Center/YouTubeCenter.crx" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Download YouTube Center</a> in the form of a .CRX file, which was designed for the Opera browser but will also work in Chrome. Ignore any error message you see regarding compatibility.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">2. In Chrome, click the <em style>Settings</em> button, then click <em style>Tools, Extensions</em> to open the Extensions tab.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> 3. Drag the downloaded .CRX file to that Extensions tab, then agree to the installation request.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">4. Now open YouTube in a new tab. You should immediately see the YouTube Center settings window. (If not, click the little gear icon in the upper-right corner of the YouTube screen.)</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">5. Click <em style>Player</em>, then clear the checkbox next to DASH. Close the YouTube Center window and you're done!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Now, when you start a video, you'll see the buffer bar run all the way to the right, indicating that the full video is queued for playback, not just a few seconds' worth.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> By the way, the developer offers a tutorial for <a href="https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki/How-to-use-YouTube-Center-with-Internet-Explorer" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">installing YouTube Center in Internet Explorer</a>, which definitely isn't easy. Sorry, novices, you may want to sit this one out.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As you've no doubt noticed, YouTube Center offers a wealth of other options besides DASH disabling. Feel free to poke around and share any cool tricks you find!</p></span>

Force YouTube to buffer your entire video

Back in the good old days, when you started watching a YouTube video, the entire thing would download (or "buffer") in the backg...

Read more »