This is a relatively minor but annoying problem, so I figured I’d ask here before having to factory restore my system again. (I’m willing to do that, but only as a last resort.)
The sound on my computer skips every so often at unpredictable intervals (say, about every 10-15 minutes). It’ll “stutter” for about a second before continuing normally. All the sound is effected regardless of the source (Winamp, website file, CD, anything).
Virus check turning up nothing. Defragmenting not helping either. I already deleted a ton of temporary files.
Has this always happened, or only since what change or update?
Click on Start, Run, and type in DXDIAG. Once it’s loaded, go to each tab and run the tests in that tab. When complete, click on Save All Info and post dxdiag.txt here (or upload it elsewhere and post a link to it here).
It helps tremendously if you state what OS and machine type you are using! The following assumes Windows XP or similar and a modest x86 machine.
Given the length of time between stutters, it might be some background task (or tasks) is periodically waking up, doing it’s thing, etc., and putting a sudden load on the cpu.
Well behaved programs should not do this of course but there’s a lot of not so well behaved programs out there, including some of the most well known anti-virus programs. Most noticable on machines with lesser amounts of memory.
You need to find out what’s running. Use Taskmanager, HijackThis, etc.
Drivers can also be a problem (and not just audio ones).
Sorry I wasn’t more detailed. I’m not used to this.
Gateway GT5435E. PC platform, 2007 version of Windows. AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Processor 4600+, 2.4 GHz.
This problem only started recently, and I don’t remember ever having it before. My current virus/spyware/backup utility fixed everything just fine until this popped up. I’ve been running sound files and games for ages without any skipping whatsoever. I’ve downloaded all kinds of files, Winamp, VDownloader, BitTorrent, LimeWire, DivX, Adobe Reader, Wrar, you name it, and I don’t remember having problems with any of them. I did download a couple of games (that I since deleted) of questionable origin, but if they were carrying anything harmful my protection utility should have had it covered.
Will try suggestions (and thanks a lot for the help!), will also try this online help link I just discovered now. If things don’t improve in a week or so, I’ll do a factory restore.
I’ve had a similar problem in the past that was corrected by downloading and reinstalling the audio card drivers and then DirectX. It’s worth a try, at any rate, before doing a full restore.
Ugh… uninstall LimeWire for a start; if it isn’t causing this problem it’s causing some other problem or will in the near future. What audio does it use, RealTek? I’d try opening up task manager (ctrl+shift+esc), arrange processes by CPU usage and watch it while you listen to some tunes. If a process pops to the top as the audio skips, that’s your problem right there.
You haven’t provided all the info I asked for. But one thing strikes me, you only mention one anti-virus app. No one app can detect everything or protect you against everything. In your situation I would suggest at least 3. What actual app are yo referring to here? Others you should consider are avast!, malaware, AVG.