Computer sound skipping and mouse choppy

[siskokid]

Just today, October 27, I woke up and put on some music to check my e-mail with and my computer was acting very weird. The sound was really choppy and the mouse was freezing constantly. It actually works OK if I don't listen to any music, but still not 100%. Another thing is that if I just play the music with no programs running, it still sort of skips. I was on my laptop last night doing homework and it was working fine, so I'm really confused as to why this did this all of a sudden. I saw on the web that others were having problems with this too and that's when I came across this site. I've ran multiple scans on it and it has came up clean two times now so I don't think I have a virus, but maybe I do who knows. My friend actually had this happen to him about a month ago and his is still bad, he hasn't had the time to fix it or anything. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can fix this it would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Gimpguy2000]

Just today, October 27, I woke up and put on some music to check my e-mail with and my computer was acting very weird. The sound was really choppy and the mouse was freezing constantly. It actually works OK if I don't listen to any music, but still not 100%. Another thing is that if I just play the music with no programs running, it still sort of skips. I was on my laptop last night doing homework and it was working fine, so I'm really confused as to why this did this all of a sudden. I saw on the web that others were having problems with this too and that's when I came across this site. I've ran multiple scans on it and it has came up clean two times now so I don't think I have a virus, but maybe I do who knows. My friend actually had this happen to him about a month ago and his is still bad, he hasn't had the time to fix it or anything. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can fix this it would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks!

I would do this first, BACKUP everything you can . If there is a major failure on the way "not saying there is or anything" but if there is, always backup before you lose it. But even before backing up, do 1, 2, 3, first, then before you go to 4, backup anything possible.

1. Take the side cover off and make sure all fans are running when you start it, mainly the CPU fan on the MB. It could be a bad power supply or it's going bad in which case both can cause similar symptoms but the result can damage the MB \ CPU completely.

2. Check for plugged fans, dust , dirt, etc... on internal fans and power supply fan.

3. If everything is running and clean it can still be a power supply so while doing the next step, make sure cover remains off and you can view if the fans stop at all. If the PSU quits supplying power to them, your PC will overheat and possibly fry the MB and\or CPU.

4. If all is well, boot into your OS, assuming it's Windows, do a defrag, clean up whatever you can, junk files, etc... a disk check wouldn't hurt either.

5. See what applications are running in Task Manager, shut down non-system tasks one by one to isolate the issue if it's an application causing this.

6. Make sure you scan for malware, viruses, trojans, etc.... which you stated you did but make sure.

7. Try in safe mode see if the issue happens there. F8 at boot will usually get you there.

8. Could be a hard drive going bad, I have seen this happen when the paging file gets worn out or simply when a hard drive is going kaput.

9. It could also be a bad stick of RAM in which case you would have to remove a stick at a time and see if this occurs, of course if you only have one stick, you will have to do a mem check.

So, there are a lot of likely scenarios but not necessarily a major issue, just good to be sure of a few things before more damage occurs.

NOTE: this is guesswork unless you post me your system specs. Make , model, OS, and other specs.

Cheers,

Paul

[siskokid]

I would do this first, BACKUP everything you can . If there is a major failure on the way "not saying there is or anything" but if there is, always backup before you lose it. But even before backing up, do 1, 2, 3, first, then before you go to 4, backup anything possible.

1. Take the side cover off and make sure all fans are running when you start it, mainly the CPU fan on the MB. It could be a bad power supply or it's going bad in which case both can cause similar symptoms but the result can damage the MB \ CPU completely.

2. Check for plugged fans, dust , dirt, etc... on internal fans and power supply fan.

3. If everything is running and clean it can still be a power supply so while doing the next step, make sure cover remains off and you can view if the fans stop at all. If the PSU quits supplying power to them, your PC will overheat and possibly fry the MB and\or CPU.

4. If all is well, boot into your OS, assuming it's Windows, do a defrag, clean up whatever you can, junk files, etc... a disk check wouldn't hurt either.

5. See what applications are running in Task Manager, shut down non-system tasks one by one to isolate the issue if it's an application causing this.

6. Make sure you scan for malware, viruses, trojans, etc.... which you stated you did but make sure.

7. Try in safe mode see if the issue happens there. F8 at boot will usually get you there.

8. Could be a hard drive going bad, I have seen this happen when the paging file gets worn out or simply when a hard drive is going kaput.

9. It could also be a bad stick of RAM in which case you would have to remove a stick at a time and see if this occurs, of course if you only have one stick, you will have to do a mem check.

So, there are a lot of likely scenarios but not necessarily a major issue, just good to be sure of a few things before more damage occurs.

NOTE: this is guesswork unless you post me your system specs. Make , model, OS, and other specs.

Cheers,

Paul

I actually have a laptop...sorry I thought that I mentioned that. Should I of posted this topic in a different forum?

Gateway MX6440

AMD Turion 64 Mobile

1.79 GHz, 960 MB of RAM

I have Windows XP as well. I have heard of Hijackthis program and was wondering if that is what I should do? Sorry for the confusion, my fault!

Drew

[Gimpguy2000]

I actually have a laptop...sorry I thought that I mentioned that. Should I of posted this topic in a different forum?

Gateway MX6440

AMD Turion 64 Mobile

1.79 GHz, 960 MB of RAM

I have Windows XP as well. I have heard of Hijackthis program and was wondering if that is what I should do? Sorry for the confusion, my fault!

Drew

NP , you did mention a laptop but made it sound separate from a pc the way it was stated which is why I asked.

You can run Hijackthis and other securities and would be a good place to start. It can still be an overheating issue , static build up issue, or others but do a scan with Hijackthis and post it anyway, i'll look at it.

Paul

BTW if all clean, I suggest backing up as stated. If it's a hard drive going bad, you may want to do so right away.

[siskokid]

NP , you did mention a laptop but made it sound separate from a pc the way it was stated which is why I asked.

You can run Hijackthis and other securities and would be a good place to start. It can still be an overheating issue , static build up issue, or others but do a scan with Hijackthis and post it anyway, i'll look at it.

Paul

BTW if all clean, I suggest backing up as stated. If it's a hard drive going bad, you may want to do so right away.

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2

Scan saved at 12:38:52 AM, on 10/29/2007

Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)

MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:

C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe

C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe

C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe

C:\WINDOWS\System32\wltrysvc.exe

C:\WINDOWS\System32\bcmwltry.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe

C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\DefWatch.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\New Boundary\PrismXL\PRISMXL.SYS

C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\SavRoam.exe

C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\Rtvscan.exe

C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe

C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe

C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe

C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY.exe

C:\Program Files\Philips\Sound Agent 2\mc500cpl.exe

C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\jusched.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe

C:\PROGRA~1\SYMANT~1\VPTray.exe

C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe

C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\PCSuite\Services\ServiceLayer.exe

C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe

C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe

C:\Program Files\Nokia\Nokia PC Suite 6\PcSync2.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\FINDFAST.EXE

C:\Program Files\Nikon\PictureProject\NkbMonitor.exe

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA.EXE

C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe

C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\Nokia\MPAPI\MPAPI3s.exe

C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe

C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.gateway.com/g/startpage.html?Ch...TB&M=MX6440

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.gateway.com/g/startpage.html?Ch...TB&M=MX6440

R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.gateway.com/g/startpage.html?Ch...TB&M=MX6440

R3 - URLSearchHook: AOLTBSearch Class - {EA756889-2338-43DB-8F07-D1CA6FB9C90D} - C:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 2.0\aoltb.dll

O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll

O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll

O2 - BHO: AOL Toolbar Launcher - {7C554162-8CB7-45A4-B8F4-8EA1C75885F9} - C:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 2.0\aoltb.dll

O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar3.dll

O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Notifier BHO - {AF69DE43-7D58-4638-B6FA-CE66B5AD205D} - C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\2.0.301.7164\swg.dll

O2 - BHO: Browser Address Error Redirector - {CA6319C0-31B7-401E-A518-A07C3DB8F777} - c:\windows\system32\BAE.dll

O3 - Toolbar: AOL Toolbar - {DE9C389F-3316-41A7-809B-AA305ED9D922} - C:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 2.0\aoltb.dll

O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar3.dll

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RemoteControl] "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe"

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [synTPLpr] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [synTPEnh] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Reminder] %WINDIR%\Creator\Remind_XP.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Recguard] %WINDIR%\SMINST\RECGUARD.EXE

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [broadcom Wireless Manager UI] C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QveCtl2Tray] C:\Program Files\Philips\Sound Agent 2\mc500cpl.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [sunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\jusched.exe"

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PCSuiteTrayApplication] C:\Program Files\Nokia\Nokia PC Suite 6\LaunchApplication.exe -startup

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [vptray] C:\PROGRA~1\SYMANT~1\VPTray.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [skype] "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /nosplash /minimized

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [swg] C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [PcSync] C:\Program Files\Nokia\Nokia PC Suite 6\PcSync2.exe /NoDialog

O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [Power2GoExpress] NA (User 'SYSTEM')

O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\RunOnce: [WMC_WMPDBExport] C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmdbexport.exe (User 'SYSTEM')

O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [Power2GoExpress] NA (User 'Default user')

O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\RunOnce: [WMC_WMPDBExport] C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmdbexport.exe (User 'Default user')

O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe

O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Find Fast.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\FINDFAST.EXE

O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OSA.EXE

O4 - Global Startup: NkbMonitor.exe.lnk = C:\Program Files\Nikon\PictureProject\NkbMonitor.exe

O4 - Global Startup: Office Startup.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA.EXE

O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar Search - c:\program files\aol\aol toolbar 2.0\resources\en-US\local\search.html

O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000

O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll

O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\bin\ssv.dll

O9 - Extra button: AOL Toolbar - {3369AF0D-62E9-4bda-8103-B4C75499B578} - C:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 2.0\aoltb.dll

O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL

O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe

O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Shdocvw.dll

O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe

O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe

O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdat...b?1148769032046

O23 - Service: Apple Mobile Device - Apple, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe

O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager (ccEvtMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec Settings Manager (ccSetMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec AntiVirus Definition Watcher (DefWatch) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\DefWatch.exe

O23 - Service: Google Updater Service (gusvc) - Google - C:\Program Files\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe

O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe

O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe

O23 - Service: LiveUpdate - Symantec Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\Symantec\LIVEUP~1\LUCOMS~1.EXE

O23 - Service: PrismXL - New Boundary Technologies, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\New Boundary\PrismXL\PRISMXL.SYS

O23 - Service: SAVRoam (SavRoam) - symantec - C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\SavRoam.exe

O23 - Service: ServiceLayer - Nokia. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\PCSuite\Services\ServiceLayer.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec Network Drivers Service (SNDSrvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec SPBBCSvc (SPBBCSvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe

O23 - Service: Symantec AntiVirus - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\Rtvscan.exe

O23 - Service: Broadcom Wireless LAN Tray Service (wltrysvc) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\System32\wltrysvc.exe

--

End of file - 9481 bytes

Here is the log for the HijackThis. What if it was an overheating issue or a static build up issue? what could be done to fix those things?

Drew

[JeanInMontana]

Hi Drew and welcome to Malwarebytes. It's hard to tell if you have an infection from just HJT. I do see you need to update your Adobe. It is an exploitable version. Please follow the instructions below and post your replies here http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showforum=7

Please set your system to show

all files; Click Start.

Open My Computer.

Select the Tools menu and click Folder Options.

Select the View Tab.

Under the Hidden files and folders heading select Show hidden files and folders.

Uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (recommended) option.

Click Yes to confirm.

Click OK.

If you haven't already, please get these programs, update and run a complete scan removing all items found.

Spybot Search & Destroy Be sure to use the immunize feature.

AVG AntiSpyware Be sure to "take action"

Then go here and run a scan PandaActive Scan There is a full tutorial on how to to this at the top of this forum.

Post the logs from the Panda and AVG scans please, along with a log from this program HiJack This!

You will post three logs. 1. AVG scan. 2. Panda Active Scan. 3. HiJack This scan. You will finish the AVG first so go ahead and post that log, then move on to Panda and so forth.

I will analyze the logs and give you further instructions. Be patient and persistent. These things can take time and many procedures.

[Gimpguy2000]

Here is the log for the HijackThis. What if it was an overheating issue or a static build up issue? what could be done to fix those things?

Drew

Well first do as Jean suggests to make sure everything is clean and go from there. Static build up on some models is cured simply by holding down the power button with a power off.. over heating depends what's causing it. I still think it could be a hard drive going bad as well if all checks out.

But as stated, follow the instructions and go from there. Then you can at least be sure it's not a nasty.

Paul

[siskokid]

Paul

I have done everything that Jean has said to do and it is all clean now and my computer is still running very weird. The music will still skip and and the mouse is still pretty choppy if I have more than a couple of programs running. If the music is playing and I am running programs, like even just surfing the internet, it will hardly play at all! So what do you suggest? If it is a hardware issue, do you think my computer is fried? I have a laptop and I don't really know if the hardware can be fixed or whatever it takes. I'm no expert at this stuff as you can see!

Thanks

Drew

[MysteryFCM]

Can you tell me what your computers process/memory usage is like?

To find this, press CTRL+ALT+DEL and select the Performance tab, then paste a screenshot of it here

Next, click the Processes tab and click the CPU column header twice, then paste a screenshot of that here

[siskokid]

How do I paste a screenshot?

[MysteryFCM]

Sorry, please see;

http://avant.it-mate.co.uk/?c=Tips&s=16#tip

[siskokid]

Hope this helps...

Drew

controlalt.doc

controlalt.doc

[MysteryFCM]

Since that doesn't show anything abnormal, and assuming the cjopps sounds and dodgy mouse are continuing, whilst possibly hardware, there's a couple of things I'd do to narrow down the cause of the problem.

1. First and foremost, to check the mouse, simply try a second mouse if you have one (or can borrow one)

2. Try a new set of speakers (if you have one or can borrow one)

3. Uninstall then re-install your sound card drivers

Uninstalling and re-installing them is simple (Start > Run, type: appwiz.cpl), but you'd first be best making sure you still have the installation CD for them (if you have on-board sound, the drivers will be located on your motherboard installation CD).

If you do not have the installation CD, and do not know the make and model, either use something like Aida32 to find out which one's you have, or check the Device Manager (Start > Right click My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager)

Aida32

http://archive.mysteryfcm.co.uk/?f=System/Diagnostics/Aida32

4. Run a check of your system's RAM using the Microsoft diagnostic CD;

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

[John L. Galt]

Steve,

Perhaps a search for updated drivers as well? And a search on Gateway's site for latest updates?

[siskokid]

I'm pretty sure that I only have 1 cd for my laptop....does that sound right? I dont have any of the cd's here with me, they are at my parents house. I'm going home soon so i will check for them then. Is this the "motherboard" cd you are talking about?

[MysteryFCM]

Yes. It will likely have something about a "Restore CD" or some such on it .....

[Joe T]

First of all you guys ROCK!.. I had the same problem... just wanted to give my input because I had tried everything and now my computer is 100%!!! Back to its "like new" condition...

Make sure that your primary IDE is not in PIO mode. PIO mode is "programmed input-output mode". That is the mode (used on original computers) in which the CPU takes each command line-by-line, or word-by-word. Your IDE should be in DMA or Ultra DMA mode which stands for Direct Memory Access. This mode allows a DMA controller to process many commands and frees up valuable computing time to the CPU..

1) Goto Control Panel

2) Open up System

3) Goto Device Manager

4) Goto IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

5) Double-click on Primary IDE

6) Click on the "Advanced Settings" tab

7) Make sure that "Transfer mode" is set to "DMA if Available" (if you can change it)

8) If "Current Transfer Mode" is set to PIO Only, Go back to Device manager and right-click on Primary IDE and uninstall the device.

9) Restart the computer, the hardware wizard will then display "New hardware found..... IDE controller... the Primary IDE controller.

10) Go back to Device Manager and check, you should not be in DMA or Ultra DMA mode 5 (or 6).

My computer now takes less then 20 seconds to boot up when it use to take over 5 minutes... Good luck to you!!

If you have any questions my email address is : Joe4alb@hotmail.com B)

[John L. Galt]

Of course, being able to enable DMA in Windows is sometimes also dependent upon enabling DMA in the BIOS....

OTOH, sometimes enabling DMA in the BIOS will enable it in Windows automatically, I think especially in XP and Vista - ISTR that this occurred for me once on an older machine.

I cannot recall ever having DMA denied by Windows even if it was not enabled in BIOS< but it never hurts to enable it there as well - may help the boot process.

Finally, sometimes driver problems are caused by Windows as well - I remember more than once in XP where automatic updates would give me an optional update for a driver that was older than what I had currently installed (Notorious for nVidia graphics cards, but also saw it happen for audio as well). you might experiment, because sometimes the WU driver is the better one, and sometimes the driver you get from the hardware manufacturer is better - usually depends upon the age of the hardware.

HTH

[Joe T]

^^ you are absolutely right. Microsoft Windows updates are netorious for causing issues including the famous Device manager disappearing act and the "it takes 10 minutes for "My computer" to show up. But I must say, out of all fixes and updates, spyware and malware removals I have done on this computer, this fix has been the most dramatic change of them all.

[John L. Galt]

I got one for ya - I have a P4 3.2 GHz based system using an MSI Neo-2 Platinum Series motherboard.

My system had died (HD failure, although it was temporary - I still think it was some sort of weird boot sector virus that was time limited)....

Anyhoo, in testing my options, I reset all my BIOS settings to default - then when the system came back up, I thought I reset everything back.

Turns out I did not enable caching the BIOS for faster operations - and Vista ran like crap. Enabling that feature makes Vista run almost as fast as XP ran on here. I mean dramatically different - Vista boots in under 2 minutes (as opposed to 5, especially when loading drivers - it was taking forever to load drivers....)

[Joe T]

Funny you mentioned that. I had a similar problem when I first purchased this computer which BTW is Dell Dimension 4500 running XP w/ Pentium 4 2.0 ghz & 768 megs RAM (yeah yeah I know I should boost it up the max the motherboard will hold at 1 gig Ram, but all in due time B) ). Anyway I had an issue with the BIOS so I found an update online, flashed the BIOS and everything seemed to work fine except it took like 10 min to boot-up. Once everything booted up (usually i was a year older by that time )it ran fine. I found the problem to be the same. The caching (or lack there of) was a HUGE difference, and I kick myself for "dealing" with the issue for so long after that rather then investigating it and fixing it sooner.