Audio problems

[Tom]

My sister's computer is having audio issues - when you play a video, the audit is terrible - squealing, static, other noises, almost like when you have a guitar plugged into an amp loosely. Not all the time - I played one video once, no problem at all, then a few minutes later, it was so bad I had to stop it.

I ran AVG and it found there root kits......not good, and could not fix them.
I guess a trip to the shop is the bottom line.

But would a RK do this to audio?
And, curious, how do those root kits get picked up - she has AVG, Maleware bites, Super Anti-Virus.

[fast4522]

You tube has all sorts of things to try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiB3HYq4uP4&feature=fvsr

[JustRalph]

Tom, pull the drivers on the sound card and restart the machine and see what happens. hit the

"Windows key" between "alt" and "cntrl" on bottom left of keyboard.

hold it down while also hitting the "Pause" key in upper right hand corner.

This will open system properties/enter the device manager, scroll down to the sound card drivers and remove/uninstall them. just reboot the machine after that. the sound card should be redetected on boot up.

sometimes your symptoms occur when the drivers are corrupted.

on the root kit deal...........???? not sure. I might be one to backup and wipe this machine unless you can figure out what app installed the problem.

Here is one blurb about root kit stuff

Why Use A Rootkit?

A rootkit allows someone, either legitimate or malicious, to maintain command and control over a computer system, without the the computer system user knowing about it. This means that the owner of the rootkit is capable of executing files and changing system configurations on the target machine, as well as accessing log files or monitoring activity to covertly spy on the user's computer usage.
Is A Rootkit Malware?

That may be debatable. There are legitimate uses for rootkits by law enforcement or even by parents or employers wishing to retain remote command and control and/or the ability to monitor activity on their employee's / children's computer systems. Products such as eBlaster or Spector Pro are essentially rootkits which allow for such monitoring.
However, most of the media attention given to rootkits is aimed at malicious or illegal rootkits used by attackers or spies to infiltrate and monitor systems. But, while a rootkit might somehow be installed on a system through the use of a virus or Trojan of some sort, the rootkit itself is not really malware.

[HUSKER55]

JUST A THOUGHT....

slimware.com is a cloud utility that seems to work ok for me.

if you uninstall the drivers you could wipe the disk and re-install.

might not be a bad idea to uninstall avg and your super virus and re-install.

it has worked for me.

good luck
h55
:)

[Tom]

Tom, pull the drivers on the sound card and restart the machine and see what happens.

This seems to have fixed the problem, Ralph!
Thanks!

Soundbytes.org has added a few new programs to the Security Tango that address root kits and other hidden problems......going to do the full dance this weekend and see what happens.

[JustRalph]

Cherish the small victories :ThmbUp:

[Tom]

Back again....rats!

Security Tango has been updates - I'll do the whole routine on her machine this weekend.

[bigmack]

Back again....rats!

Security Tango has been updates - I'll do the whole routine on her machine this weekend.
Tommy, it shouldn't be a virus or anything to do with rootkits.

Go into device manager (right click "my computer" - left click 'properties") and ensure there are no issues with the sound card.

[JustRalph]

Back again....rats!

Security Tango has been updates - I'll do the whole routine on her machine this weekend.

sounds like something is corrupting the sound drivers. Usually this is an app running in the background. Make sure you shut down all the crap in the background and then pull the drivers again

[HUSKER55]

how do you change the driver you now have (IDT) to windows media player?

I am wondering if using everything ms is a better way to go for us "challenged users".

[JustRalph]

how do you change the driver you now have (IDT) to windows media player?

I am wondering if using everything ms is a better way to go for us "challenged users".

The drivers are provided by whomever makes the sound card/chip

All it does is allow the soundcard or built in chip to communicate with the system i.e. windows and other apps. Media player interacts with the drivers. The drivers are not an application like media player. They are at a lower level than that.

Just like your printer needs an installed printer driver to talk to windows, it's the same for sound. If something corrupts your printer driver, you get weird characters when you print something. In Tom's case the weird characters come out as static or horrible sounds.

You normally cannot change your sound drivers. They are provided by the manufacturer of your computer. Advanced users can dick around with them by using different versions, but you would not normally change your sound drivers.

When Tom pulls them from device manager the sound card is redetected on reboot and a fresh copy is pulled from the drivers folder on the machine. It then works until some application or problem corrupts them again.

This could take 2minutes or it may not hapen again until Tom runs the offending application. The source of the corruption (including low memory etc) could be from many different causes. Background apps should always be minimal, including anti virus.

[HUSKER55]

thank you for clearing that up for me! :)