Realtek Audio Manager crash

Hello again. I have a problem with Realtek Audio Manager. Any time I access the Audio Devices tab, Recording, the system crashes but nothing registers with the Problems and Solutions.

I just bought a Behringer C-1U Studio Condenser Microphone with USB connection. When first plugged in, Vista's driver installed and I was able to test the mike with both Sound Recorder and Audacity (beta). However, the sound seemed too low, in fact in Audacity it seemed to jump to 6 (?) which was very near the low end of the scale, so I started to fiddle with the levels first within Audacity, then through Audio Manager. I found that Audacity controlled the volume, just as I wanted.

A few days on, I tried to record with Audacity and here the problems started. I tried joining the input devices and then separated them again. Tried other adjustments within Audio Manager and Audacity suddenly refused to record, giving an error message. Uninstalled and reinstalled a slightly newer version of Audacity (still beta). Also installed Kristal (which came on a CD from Behringer). Somewhere along the line, Audio Manager started crashing as soon as I accessed the Audio Devices tab, as described above. This happens whether the new mike is plugged in or not, and whether I have Audacity open or not. I can access the Sound Manager area with no problems.

At some point, I put the mike in a different USB port and it worked well for a while, i.e. Audacity recording normally, ability to set audio levels, etc. Next day, nothing works, the sound is again too low (this is a professional type mike, that should pick up from anywhere in the room) and, worst of all, the system crashes when I try to check the mike status in Audio Manager.

I thought of manually installing an updated Realtek driver, (Windows Update does not suggest anything new) but after some research, it seems that so much can go wrong that I don't know where to start. I don't even know if I should be posting under Hardware or Software. Can someone please suggest a course of action?

Maxdata 1.87 gHz Intel Core 2 Duo 6300
1024 MB memory
250 Gb HD + 1 Tb External HD
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H42N ATA Device [CD/DVD drive]
Vista Home Premium 32 bit Service Pack 2 (build 6002)
Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome

 

Hi again Halo!

No, no error messages, just a sudden shut-down. I have just “successfully” reproduced the crash. With no other windows open, I opened Realtek Audio Manager and looked around the Sound Manager area, checking settings … all fine. I then opened the Audio Devices tab, Recording, Front mic and Levels … crash!

I don't know my way around, so please tell me how much detail you require. I'm looking under Custom Views, Administrative Events. There are several entries related to each crash, always the same, including:
Event 6008, EventLog The previous system shutdown at 15:51:36 on 29/04/2010 was unexpected.
Event 46, volmgr Crash dump initialization failed! (2 of these)
Event 1101, Eventlog Audit events have been dropped by the transport. The real time backup file was corrupt due to improper shutdown.
But there is a lot more under Details.

No. I did previously and have just uninstalled both again just to make sure and it makes no difference.

Device Manager looks fine, everything is reported as working.

I have Belarc Advisor, is it OK to use instead of Everest, or do you mean that I should use it to debug? What system details do you need?

P.S. Thanks for responding so quickly!

 

Halo, something you should know. This morning I rolled back my system to a week ago and found a System Restore Point where Audio Manager worked, at least when I tried to reproduce the crash, it DIDN'T!

At about the same time I discovered that someone has been charging stuff to my credit card. :mad So I have run the Malware Removal Guide and will be posting on that forum to see if my system is clean now. Two “items” were found and quarantined (I hope).

I haven't had a chance to test my new microphone again, so that issue is on hold for now. Many thanks for your help so far and, hopefully, the audio problem won't come back. Cheers! :wave