Why is my edited video jerky when trying to view?

Question

I am running PP CS4 in Windows 7-64bit  with 4 GB Ram.  The source video play fine, however, the video in the timeline is jerky and slow. My computer is a 2 Mhz laptop.

Answer 1

>Windows 7-64bit with 4 GB Ram... computer is a 2 Mhz laptop
You barely have enough ram to run Windows, with very little left over for programs
Unless it was designed for video editing, your computer has a single, 5400rpm hard drive
If you are editing any kind of HD file, you don't have the computing power for video editing
But... just what are you editing?
Read Bill Hunt on a file type as WRAPPER http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037
What is a CODEC... a Primer http://forums.adobe.com/thread/546811
What CODEC is INSIDE that file? http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037
Report back with the codec details of your file, use the programs below... a screen shot works well to SHOW people what you are doing
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/592070?tstart=30
For PC http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en or http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
An EXAMPLE concerning trying to use only ONE Hard Drive for Video Editing
You are a music conductor, with a baton that you use to point to various parts of the orchestra... this is like Windows pointing to various parts of the hard drive to do Windows housekeeping or to load program segments for various functions
Now, at the same time and with the same hand... while still using the baton to conduct the orchestra... pick up a bow and play a fiddle... this would be doing something with your video file at the same time as all the other work
You as a person cannot do both at the same time with the same hand
A computer is a LITTLE better, in that it can switch from one kind of task to another very quickly... but not quickly enough for EASY video editing
You need AT LEAST two hard drives (separate drives, never a partition http://forums.adobe.com/thread/650708 for more on partitions) with Windows (or Mac OS) and software on your boot drive, and video files on a 2nd drive so the boot drive is not slowed down by trying to do everything
External eSata or USB3 are both fast enough for video editing... eSata is better
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1117813