Technical > Computer Hardware Help > sound cuts out...

sound cuts out...

Sounds like the BUS is getting saturated and causes the skip. Could be a process causing it or even some type of malware infection as playing a CD or from a hard drive should not cause a skip for even older machines.

Have you run Task Manager and see if a specific process takes over the CPU during the skip?

You can use something like Everest or SiSsoft Sandra to find out what hardware is in the machine. If it is a OEM machine (HP, Dell, Asus etc...) then there should be a service number or tag number that you can enter into the web site of the manufacturer and see what came with the machine. You would also get a customized list of drivers for the PC as well.

Well, I did get a update for the driver for the sound card, no difference, I looked at the Task Manager and nothing seems to be outta the ordinary, but when I watch the CPU usage graph it shows a MAJOR spike and that is when it cuts out...I don't know what is causing it...looks like I'm stuck till further notice. THANKS for the help, I appreciate it.

Sort the processes tab in Task Manager so that the processes using the most CPU is at the top - then watch for the spike and try and see the process that causes the spike. You may need to watch VERY carefully and see the spike to finally read the entire process.

There is some freeware program that might help but I can't remember the name if it at all.

reply to MAIZnBLUE
I agree...identifying the process spiking the cpu is the next step. The cpu usage and sound issues are related.

With that said, you may want to start by performing a system cleanup. Uninstall any/all unused programs. Check the task tray (lower right side or the task bar). All of the icons shown there are programs that are loaded on start up, and most of them don't need to be running. Items such as QuickTime, Real Player, and even the nVidia or ATI panel don't need to be there for the software to run properly. (typically you can just open the app and dig through the menu's until you find the "load on startup" option and then disable it. Next would be a good registry cleaner (or two) and then a defrag of the HDD. That will help eliminate some of the misc little registry issues and extra processes eating cpu cycles. As noted above, this would also be a good time to ensure all of the drivers are up to date, especially the motherboard drivers.

If the problem is still occurring, open msconfig and disable all of the items loaded on startup, reboot, and test.
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reply to MAIZnBLUE
extremely detailed system specs please.

CPU:
RAM:
Motherboard:
Soundcard:
are all drives SATA or PATA:
Soundcard Driver version:
OS Version:
which SP:

cpu: 3.4ghz ht
ram: 4GB (4x1GB) Crucial DDR2 pc2-5300
motherboard: not sure
soundcard: soundmax integrated digital audio
drives: i dont believe they are sata but to be honest im not sure.
soundcard driver version: 5.12.1.7000
os version: winxp home
sp:3

reply to MAIZnBLUE
OK, Well I finally figured out what was causing it....and fixed it...this computer is on a wmp300n wireless adapter connected to a wrt600n linky router/access point...well the software that came with the wireless adapter was screwing everything up....so I uninstalled it and took the wireless pci card out...re-installed it allowed windows to recognize it was there and add the drivers without the software and all is well once again...for the first time in a while..
Nonetheless, I want to thank you all for your help as I really do appreciate it...I did keep a eye on the task manager and saw a bunch of activity coming from a few different executable inwhich were all apart of the software for the adapter...well to make a long story short, its fixed...so THANKS again.

reply to MAIZnBLUE
glad to see you resolved it on your own, and thanks for letting us know what you particular problem turned out to be.