Audio and desktop display starts skipping/jumping every second or so..

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Jam_Master_K

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Right, I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for me to talk about this problem but perhaps the thread can be moved if it is better suited elsewhere.

My problem is that I have a Compaq Presario desktop and it has developed a problem that has me stumped. Basically after the computer has been switched on for a time, the computers audio and visual display start skipping at a rate of once per second or so. Its hard to explain, but what happens is if there is any audio playing it will still play but slightly jump every second or so. At the same time the desktop display will jump too, as if it freezes for a split second. For example, if I move the cursor from one side of the screen to the other during this time it will stop once or twice rather than moving accross smoothly.

So far the only way I can stop this problem is restarting the computer, and even then it starts happening again eventually.

I have updated and run lots of antivirus and anti-spyware scans (AVG, AdAware, Spybot) but to no avail. I even booted in safe mode to carry out a scan and the problem happened again even when the computer was running in safe mode.

Then I thought it could be a driver problem so I tried rolling back certain drivers (Video, Audio, Ethernet) in case they had been updated and were causing problems. This did not solve it.

So then I searched for the newest audio and video drivers for my computer and installed them. This did not solve the problem either.

Since this started happening, I have been keeping an eye on what processes are running on the computer when the problem starts, but there are no processes out of the ordinary showing up in the proccesses tab when it occurs.

So then I started thinking maybe it is a problem with my Ram, so I ran two runs with Memtest86+ and the tool showed up no errors with my 1GB of ram.

For reference, shown below are some of the system details from the computer...

FamilyComputerSystemDetails.jpg


And thats where I am now. I don't know what else to try and I am really stumped as to what is causing this annoying problem! If anybody can help and shed some light on any possible solutions or has any idea about what is causing this, I'd be very grateful. :)
 
Try trading out everything to find out what hardware is defective... at this point you don't know where to begin, I suppose.
SAFE Mode: When you cold boot to Safe Mode, dos the problem appear? If not, your video graphics port may be bad.
Video Graphics: Try any different video graphics card. If you have integrated on-board video, try installing any video card... pci, agp, pci-e... whatever your computer motherboard allows.
Power Supply: Any power supply is capable of strange things, and Compaq power supplies are stranger than most. You might be able to borrow one to test... or replace yours for under $50
Optical Drive. These, too, can cause strange problems as they age. Disconnect what you have to test, or try another temporarily.
Hard Drive (try any other hard drive, install with your recovery disc, then see if the problem is still there.) This will tell you if it is a windows install problem or a hard drive in the midst of failing.
Audio socket? try any PCI audio card, if on integrated audio, or to test if current card is bad. )
Monitor... Does the problem occur when plugged into another monitor?
If you have a floppy drive, borrow a Windows 98 or Windows ME boot floppy, and see what happens... otherwise, boot to a CD.
Other hard ware item, if bad, can emit spurious responses to input... anything in a pci slot.
Likliest culprit, based on our work on a huge number of Compaqs would be the power supply. Second choice, the video port.
Good luck. Let us know what you determined the problem to be.
 
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