My Sound Shuts Off

[Imperious825]

Greetings, all.

I use an eMachines series T2862 desktop, and have recently begun to experience a technical difficulty with my audio. The sound shuts off on rare occasions with no explanation. When this happens, the CPU runs at 100% everytime I make an action that would create a sound under normal conditions. It seems as though it's trying to process the sound, but can't.

I've attempted procedures that should've fixed the problem if it's either coming from the sound driver or a corrupted Windows XP file. Yet, this continues to happen even after I reloaded the driver and ran the Windows file protection scan. I don't think the problem is coming from a hardware source because the sound always returns after every restart.

Has anyone else here experienced the same problem? Could it be a spyware? Would restoring the entire system fix the problem?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Rik]

Virus scanning and antispyware scanning your system may well fix it. You can get free software for doing both from www.microsoft.com, downloads section.

Also, the next time it happens, press alt+ctrl+delete, select processes and have a look at whats eating up your processor time.

 

[Imperious825]

Virus scanning and antispyware scanning your system may well fix it. You can get free software for doing both from www.microsoft.com, downloads section.
QUOTE]
Actually, this is what's bugging me. I have AVG Antivirus and Ad-Aware SE, and have scanned my computer with both programs several times now, but didn't come up with anything. Also, this first happened while I was equipped with a quality antivirus. As a result, I'm almost convinced that it's a software problem, but give doubt as to the possibility of it being some advanced spyware or virus that can't be picked up easily.

I've tried to end the soundman.exe process and restart it when this happens, but it doesn't make any difference. My computer was never under heavy multitasking when this happens either. What does show an error is the "Sound Effect" manager. It doesn't open when the sound is down, although I am able to close it.

 

[Rik]

I assume that you have an ac97 sound card and its probably built in. Make sure you are using the latest sound driver from e-machines and not a general realtek one.

 

[Imperious825]

An eMachines representative revealed that I have an Intel ICH AC'97 Codec sound card. As for the driver, all I've been able to confirm is that it's a "signed" driver, and not one that's 'unsigned,' whatever that means.

Is it possible that such errors can rise even from signed drivers? If so, does eMachines obligate themselves to give out appropriate drivers upon request from eMachines owners?

 

[Rik]

"Signed" usually means that it has been tested and found to do an adaquate job. If the machine is still under warranty then it may be a good idea to take it back and let them figure it out or replace it.

 

[Imperious825]

I'm afraid my computer has been out of warranty for quite a while. When it was in warranty, I had to send it back for a new hard drive because the old one had a misaligned disk, and made grinding noises. Ultimately, the system crashed and needed a new hard drive. Unfortunately, I was sent back a system that still had defects! A defective memory card drive that has a hard time reading the card, and now apparently a defective sound driver.

Is it true that you can only use one type of driver for a particular sound card? Or are many alternatives for sound drivers?

 

[Rik]

I very much doubt that there are any alternative sound drivers available that will improve your problem.

If i were you, i would place the e-machine inside a strong bag then hit it repetedly with a sledge hammer until it fits nicely into a bin then go get a proper pc.

Sorry about that, but i have worked on several e-machines and have a very low opinion of them. I had one for all of 2 days many many years ago (it was a 66mhz dx2), it was that crap that i demanded the shop take it back before it ended up in the road smashed to bits by me.

 

[Imperious825]

:lol This is what I said I would do many times!

But now that you mentioned it, which other prebuilt PC brand would you recommend as randing among the highest positive user feedback? Would it be possible to make my eMachines hard drive a slave drive in a dissimilar brand desktop?

 

[Rik]

Phew!!! Was hoping that last post wouldn't offend you. To be honest, id never touch a branded pc again.

Building a pc for yourself is a much cheaper alternative and isn't as difficult as most people think. At least if something goes wrong, its easy to replace a part.

Using your existing hard drive is a good idea as long as you do a complete reformat of it, and provided its of a decent size and speed. If you should decide to go down the home build route at some point, be reassured, you can count on my help if you should need it.

 

[Imperious825]

Thank you very much for your time and help.