Oh boy, here we go -- let the Mac-vs-PC wars begin!
Just like justadub, my 20-something-year-old-gadget-geek days are long over. I'm just a sage old deep data center network backbone kind of guy now, and I try to stay away from the "can you fix my son's/daughter's PC?" issues as much as I can.
However, it does sound like the OP either:
1. Has too many things running at once, that are causing too much context-switching on the CPU. This is especially troublesome when you have too many kernel-level "ring 0" processes -- e.g. graphics device drivers -- running that are demanding "real time" attention from the CPU.
Recommendation: when watching a live stream, close-down (and I mean Quit & Exit,
not minimize to the Taskbar) other things that are graphics-intensive (e.g. if you have Windows Media Player running with that *&^%$#@! graphic kaleidoscope that bounces/behaves in tune with the music -- KILL IT!). If you have a webpage displaying (besides the one that is displaying the live stream itself) that has all these Java applets, animated graphics, etc. -- KILL IT! If you have any kind of PDA/SmartPhone "synchronizing" software (e.g. Palm HotSync) -- KILL IT!
2. You could have either virus, Trojan Horse, or viral adware/malware installed -- especially in the browser itself. (And no, the "I use Firefox exclusively" [or browser-of-the-day du-jour] is not an excuse -- it's vulnerable to these things as well.) Make sure your virus software is up-to-date, and initiate a scan, right now, on your hard disk. I've seen where a virus/bot got past the "real-time scanning" ability of the virus software, but a user-initiated disk scan picked it up.
3. You have too many toolbars and add-ins installed in your browser. For example, it is a Bad Idea(tm) to have both the Google and Yahoo toolbars installed on your browser at the same time. They're competing for that same "search engine" API option slot in your browser. In the same vein, if you have more than one AntiVirus/AntiMalware toolbar installed in your browser -- both of them trying to simultaneously intercept and scan the web content -- it is also a Bad Idea(tm). Pick one, and uninstall the other.
4. Don't rule out a RAM or Video RAM problem. Sometimes memory problems are extremely elusive, and only discovered when some kind of stress is put on the system -- e.g. when the CPU is under a bit of duress trying to keep up with all the context switches. There are a number of hardware diagnostics programs out there; just type in "PC hardware diagnostics" into your favorite search engine and pick one.
5. Try a Registry scanner / repair tool. There are several good ones out there -- just google "Registry cleaner" and pick one. Many are paid/shareware, but worth the price. Once you see how badly congested/corrupted the Registry has become, you'll find yourself running this tool often -- especially as you visit websites that like to do the "oh, you don't have this product/add-in? Let me fix that, and install it for you..." (which, interestingly, results in the ol' multiple-toolbars-all-doing-the-same-job-and-stomping-on-each-other problem).
6. Last, but certainly not least -- make sure you have the latest operating system and browser updates. Just because you have Windows' "AutoUpdate" feature enabled, doesn't mean you always get the Recommended updates. You'll only get the Critical updates. You have to run Update yourself, by visiting Microsoft's Update site:
http://update.microsoft.com/ <-- (if in doubt as to your AutoUpdate setting, just click this link).
Now, I assumed you're using Windows for this, but the same goes for other operating systems as well. (Yes, Mac included -- just because it has a Unix core, doesn't mean it's not vulnerable to viruses, bots, and malware -- especially through the browser. Apple's recent multiple blackeyes with huge vulnerabilities in Safari drives this point home.)
Although I do use Windows (I have to, in the corporate environment), I also have a rack of Sun Solaris servers at home, as well as a couple Linux boxes. All need the same TLC that I mentioned above.
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
