How to Troubleshoot Sound Problems in Windows XP

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68 Responses

  1. Anthony says:

    @Mike – Most likely there is a program running on your daughter’s computer that is playing the music clip. Try closing all programs, and then check if it still plays.
    If so, check the task Manager for any non-microsoft programs and try ending those programs as well. If you do that one-by-one, while listing to the headphones, you will be able to pinpoint the program.
    Using the “msconfig” command you can control the startup programs and possibly deactivated a startup program that is causing it.

  2. Mike says:

    I am using my daughter’s computer. When I plugged in the headphones, I get a continuous music beat sound loop, it repeats after about 8 seconds, over and over….it never stops. I can hear others sounds the way I am supposed to, but I this music beat is always mixed in with it. So it is hard to hear other sounds.
    If I go in the volume control and mute the “wave” volume bar, it goes away, but of course I don’t hear anything then.

  3. Anthony says:

    @Shai – That new audio device looks like the audio component of a TV Tuner device, and not a webcam. Did you maybe connect a USB TV Tuner? Have a look at the Device Manager and see if you can uninstall the device there.

  4. Shai says:

    All of a sudden playback on all audio is slowed to half speed..youtube films, mp3’s..any audio file played by any program or website is suddenly sounding like a 45rpm record played at 33rpm.
    I have gone to device manager and everything is checked and working correctly. FYI i am on a laptop clone running Windows XP SP3 with a built in Realtek AC97 sound card and up to date drivers. Everything was working perfectly and for years until last week when all the audio slowed down.

    The only thing that is new is an entry I can only find in the audio console manager…713xBDA analog audio capture..which is a webcam app and for the life of me I can;t understand that since I have only ever used a logitech webcam and it is not attached right now.

    The Realtek mixer say my output is set to 44.1khz same as always I think..and playback bitrate is set to 128
    Any ideas? Thank You!

  5. k3n says:

    thnx men appreciate that!

  6. Anthony says:

    @Leo – The first thing to look at is the Adobe Flash Player, as that is used for YouTube movies. Try updating or reinstalling it.
    Also check your network connection settings. Try typing “ping -t http://www.yahoo.com” at a command prompt and see the reply time.

  7. Leo says:

    I have a problem with “hearing clear sound when watching movies of sort videos online, is like distorted sound but is with every playback sound from the internet. cant even watch and hear clear on youtube. Please your help would be greatfull.

  8. Anthony says:

    @Mark – So even with other speakers you have no sound in the left speaker? I assume you use the green OUTPUT jacks on the computer, not the inputs, right?
    And just to make sure, you have fully inserted the audio plug into the jack? And you did check the balance setting in the Sound option of the Control Panel?
    If that is the case, it could indeed be that the audio device is really broken, it is electronics, so it can break.
    But at least try installing the original audio drivers for the sound card.

  9. Mark says:

    Hey Anthony
    My Probelem Is that I Cant Hear Any Sound Trough The Left Speaker. I’ve tried plugging the jack in both inputs on my computer, i’ve tried useing other speakers, i’ve looked in speaker volume and the mixer and every things normal

    I have no idea whats Wrong!

    Please Please Please Help Me!

  10. Anthony says:

    @ahmed – One more thing is to check that the Windows Audio Service is running, as described in the article about no audio device.
    But most of the steps above would actually not make sense if the audio service is not running, so that might not be it.
    Did you check if the required audio codecs are installed?

  11. ahmed says:

    i checked every step that u mentioned but the problem is still happening ……….when i install the jack ,the pc read it ,and notify me that the jack was installed ,and the speakers are ok ,so what can i do to solve that problem ?????? plz notify me as soon as u can
    ………….thank u :D

  12. Anthony says:

    @Ramil – Make sure you uninstall the drivers for the ISA sound card completely, that could be a problem.
    Also check if the onboard sound card is enabled in the BIOS, possibly it was disabled when the ISA card was added.
    After that check the Device Manager to make sure the onboard audio device is recognized and working (you might need to install the sound drivers for that).

  13. Ramil says:

    i put a sound card on the ISA slot but when i remove it, sound card on board didn’t work but before when I am using it(the on board sound card)there is a sound what happen? how can i fix the problem

  14. Anthony says:

    @Tom – And you default playback device is showing the Realtek sound device? Not some virtual device from the TV Tuner software?

    @luca – I am assuming that you mean you re-formated and installed the previous OS, Windows XP or Vista. In that case, the most obvious problem is that you need to install the sound drivers. Windows might not have the right drivers for your sound card by default.

  15. luca says:

    my computer isnt making any sounds we just not long ago downloaded windows 7 and had to reewipe the computer cause it made my computer go weird so how can i fix this propblem? please get back
    cheers luca

  16. Tom says:

    You are right, Same with a CD. The only thing that puts out actual sound is a TV program.

  17. Anthony says:

    One other thing I can think of is that there is an issue with the codecs, although that does seem a little unlikely considering your scenario. So what happens if you use the Media Player to play an MP3 file? Plays fine, but just no sound?

  18. Tom says:

    Yes, I downloaded the latest version and installed it. I am using a Realtek AC’97 Audio board and the driver is Version 5.10.0.6300.

  19. Anthony says:

    @Tom – Did you try reinstalling your audio driver? Might be that the TV Tuner software affected the audio configuration in a way that can not be corrected through the regular audio settings.

  20. Tom says:

    Looks like a lot of people have problems with Windows XP audio. Mine is a little different. I installed “Super TV Tuner” and the sound from the TV program works fine but I don’t get sound from anything else. I uninstalled the TV tuner but that didn’t help. I have tried everything that I have been able to find on the internet but nothing works. Any ideas?

  21. Anthony says:

    @Nikhil – Where are you getting “no audio device”? And the properties of what, where show you that the sound drivers are working properly? In the Device Manager?
    You have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the audio drivers?

  22. Nikhil says:

    I cannot hear any sound .i m getting no audio device. But in properties it shows that the sound drivers are working properly. what should i do??

  23. Anthony says:

    @Madee – Check your volume levels for the audio recording and audio input device. We have some instructions for Vista online.

  24. Madee says:

    i can hear the sound from my computer fine but the only problem is when i am talking over the mic the other person cant hear me. i also cant record my own voice.
    any solutions plsss

  25. gopher says:

    yea tried that
    but still goes back to desktop speakers

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