Can someone help me with my speaker problem?

[infamousace2]

A couple of days ago, my speakers started messing up. Sometimes the sound isn't there, and when it is, it sounds all choppy. I thought my speakers blew, so today I went out to buy some new ones. Well, I plugged them in, and its doing the same exact thing. Can someone point me in the direction to go? Thanks

[soybean]

Are you using onboard sound or a sound card?  Did you install or uninstall any software around the same time this started happening?  Does this happen when listening to a CD or DVD in a CD/DVD drive?  What about streaming audio from the Internet?  Same problem or not?

[infamousace2]

Are you using onboard sound or a sound card?  Did you install or uninstall any software around the same time this started happening?  Does this happen when listening to a CD or DVD in a CD/DVD drive?  What about streaming audio from the Internet?  Same problem or not?

I guess its the sound card?? I'm not sure, I've had this PC for about 4 years now, and this is the first time its happened. It happens with music, and when my AIM goes off and everything....

[soybean]

AGAIN, music from where?  A CD?  Your hard drive?  The Internet?

Let's cover this base.  Do you have anti-virus software installed?  Do you use any spyware removal tools?

[infamousace2]

Yes...its music from my hard drive. I just ran a diagnostic test and it said...

DirectSound test results: Failure at step 19 (User verification of software): HRESULT = 0x00000000 (error code)

[soybean]

You could try installing the latest driver for your sound but I suspect you may be experiencing hardware failure of onboard sound.  Onboard means your sound function is integrated into the motherboard, the main circuit board in your computer.  A sound card in a separate hardware component that can replace onboard sound.  If a sound card is installed, onboard sound probably must be disabled from a BIOS setup screen.

I'm guessing you have no idea where to go to get the latest driver for your onboard sound.  Do you?  Here's a good reference explaining how to Determine Your Audio Driver Version and How to Update Audio Drivers.  But, do not use the Download Center link there unless you have an Intel motherboard, which I doubt.

What is the brand and model of your computer?  You need to know that and the web address of their website to download a driver if you're using onboard sound.

If you want to just skip the search for a driver to see whether that will solve your problem, I suggest you go ahead and buy a sound card, such as PPA 4-Channel CMEDIA PCI Sound Card.  If you've never installed any such components and do not feel comfortable doing that, you'll need to find someone to install it for you.

[Dead_reckon]

time to visit newegg... www.newegg.com

you can buy a nice soundcard there, for cheap

[soybean]

And you can at TigerDirect.com, the source I linked to in my previous post.  Actually, I was going to suggest the same sound card I have, which did come from newegg, but newegg's site was down earlier today and I could net obtain the URL to the item.

I see they are back up.  Here's the card I bought about a year ago: CHAINTECH AV-512 5.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail.  But, the one I suggested from TigerDirect might be just as good.

[infamousace2]

Ummm...lets see...I have a Gateway CPU that I purchased in 2002.

Oher than that...I know nothing about it...

[infamousace2]

Let me just see...Most likely, it will be fixed if I change the Sound Card?

[soybean]

A sound card will almost definitely solve the problem.  Let me restate that.  Assuming the computer is otherwise fully functional, a properly installed sound card will definitely solve the problem.

[GX1_Man]

Ummm...lets see...I have a Gateway CPU that I purchased in 2002.

Oher than that...I know nothing about it...

Download and run Everest Home. It will give you all of that info and a lot more:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

An new sound card will fix this if the drivers do not. But once we know your computer information (Model # and the onboard sound chip) we can help you get the most current drivers to see if that works for free.

[infamousace2]

Okay...I dl'd it...but how do I run it?

[infamousace2]

Ummm....I'm not sure what I did...but its working now...

I would like to thank all of you that helped, and to everyone....this is a great website. Keep up the good work...