# Netflix streaming and Silverlight

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 23, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109 "2010-10-23T16:52:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/1 "2010-10-23T16:52:05Z")

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Is anyone else having difficulties streaming Netflix on a PC?

Whenever I try to start a movie/show, I get a DRM error. I used to get rid of it by uninstalling Silverlight and then reinstalling an older version. Now, I have to reboot my computer to install the older version of Silverlight, so it’s a huge hassle to play anything on Netflix. Any ideas of a more permanent fix?

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### Author: ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/2 "2010-10-23T17:23:58Z")

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I just got an email from Netflix apologizing for their technical difficulties yesterday. It had a link so I could get credited back for my downtime. I don’t know if this is the issue you are having. Might be worth waiting a day or so to see if it resolves itself.

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### Author: ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/3 "2010-10-23T18:33:02Z")

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> [@Doctor\_Who](#):
>
> I just got an email from Netflix apologizing for their technical difficulties yesterday. It had a link so I could get credited back for my downtime. I don’t know if this is the issue you are having. Might be worth waiting a day or so to see if it resolves itself.

I also received this email.

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### Author: ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/4 "2010-10-23T19:21:55Z")

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Did everyone get the same credit? Mine was 2%, which doesn’t seem like an arbitrary number they just pulled out of thin air. I wonder if it was prorated somehow to the amount of time they recognized I spent dealing with the issue.

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### Author: ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/5 "2010-10-23T19:28:49Z")

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Mine was 3%. And I wasn’t even using it yesterday!

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### Author: ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/6 "2010-10-23T19:44:37Z")

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3% here. didn’t use it yesterday.

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### Author: ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/7 "2010-10-23T20:16:41Z")

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I was offered a 2% credit, but didn’t claim it since I wasn’t affected by the outage.

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### Author: ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/8 "2010-10-23T20:48:17Z")

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> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> I was offered a 2% credit, but didn’t claim it since I wasn’t affected by the outage.

You’re too nice. And lost…25 cents? How is the credit figured, on the monthly bill or a daily prorate?

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### Author: ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/9 "2010-10-23T22:00:51Z")

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Their website was down two days ago as well.

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### Author: ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/10 "2010-10-23T22:50:09Z")

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Mine was 3%.

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### Author: ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/11 "2010-10-24T00:31:11Z")

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3% here. I had assumed they calculated out what percentage of the month their website was down and used that.

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### Author: ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/12 "2010-10-24T00:57:11Z")

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I’ve had the Silverlight install/uninstall problem for months. It’s only the past 2 days that the Silverlight install has required a reboot (so it’s gone from minor hassle to bigger hassle). No email for credit for me!

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### Author: ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/13 "2010-10-24T23:55:48Z")

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I had the problem requiring reboot twice in two days, a few days ago. There was what I thought it was a third time but it ended up being a site problem.

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### Author: ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-and-silverlight/558109/14 "2010-10-25T01:52:51Z")

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I just plain couldn’t get Silverlight to work ever on my computer. My husband and I were running the same OS (Windows XP), and the same build of IE 8, and his worked without a hitch, and mine wouldn’t play anything ever. I re-installed Silverlight, re-installed my .Net framework, did about a hundred troubleshooting steps I found online, and the darn thing still wouldn’t work. I eventually just switched to Google Chrome and haven’t looked back - it runs Silverlight without a problem. I wish I had thought of that troubleshooting step WAY earlier in the process.
