Audio stopped working in browsers after running malware removal

Discussion in 'Software' started by albertpancakes, Jun 5, 2010.

  1. albertpancakes

    albertpancakes Private E-2

    Hi

    REGISTRY/DRIVER ISSUE

    I have an Acer Aspire 5740g laptop running windows 7 (log attached below).

    I'm already indebted to you guys for your "READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide" by chaslang, because it helped me to remove some nasty malware that was popping up on startup.

    I ran through that guide till completion, including re-enabling UAC and doing the system toggles etc, including running all the anti-spyware programs even after the problem seemed to have been solved (although only the first two seemed to actually finish). The problem is gone thankfully but I've noticed an unusual side-effect:
    audio no longer runs in browsers.

    I'm wondering if some driver/registry change has caused this change. I've only tried testing the problem by opening clips that use sounds in youtube and megavideo (i'm using latest IE).

    So far I have tried:
    -restarting my computer
    -updating adobe flash player to the latest version
    -changing a flash player setting which is supposed to help in some situations (according to their support site)
    -uninstalling and reinstalling flash player
    -updating my sound drivers (found on the acer website- which involved removing the old drivers and installing the driver i downloaded).
    -going into IE internet options> advanced> checking the "play sounds in webpages" box is checked
    -closing all IE windows and restarting IE
    -trying out (the limited) solutions google has thrown up

    I haven't tried touching any registry because I don't know computers that well and know that can be dangerous.

    I'm hoping you guys might be able to think of a solution considering your last guide worked really well.

    :confused cheers guys
     

    Attached Files:

  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    It would be best as you have had malware on your PC to as you mention you have run the read me guide to actually attach the logs that that guide has you produce to your thread in malware forum HERE so that the experts in that area can give you an all clear on any remianing malware components, as while you may not see any issues outwardly, there maybe malware components left that are causing the audio issues, so need to remove them first before trying any driver fixes.


    Once given the al clear on malware then post again here and we can try a few fixes.
     
  3. albertpancakes

    albertpancakes Private E-2

    Thanks Halo for getting back to me so quickly.

    It looks like I'm clear for malware :cool, quoting from the malware thread:

    "The only program that removed anything was Malwarebytes and they don't appear to be related to sound drivers. You could try restoring what Malwarebytes removed just in case this has something to do with some softwae you installed, but it sure looks like malware.

    <After noting some problems with anti-spyware programs> ...It does not matter anyway, nothing of note is in any of your logs.

    If you have not tried it yet, you may want to try using System Restore to go back to a point before your problem began.... that is assuming you did not delete restore points which we don't recommend doing until we are convinced a PC has been clean. However I just noticed in your other thread you say your removed them so this is not going to be of any use. Just continue working in your other thread."

    So it sounds like the malware bytes program did remove some malware but perhaps some sound drivers were damaged/altered in the process? Can you think of anything that might fix the problem?

    Thanks
     
  4. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi


    Try the following,


    Download and install the Chipset driver from HERE and once installed reboot.

    Then install the Audio driver from HERE

    Check audio works, but also check in Services that the Windows Audio Service is Started and its startup type is set to Automatic, can also use the Windows Troubleshooters to check if audio is not working after installing the drivers, by clicking Start and typing troubleshooting in the Start Search box and clicking the top link, then click under Hardware and Sound the Troubeshoot audio playback and follow the prompts.

    Do also check Device Manager and if you see any yellow ! marks, please let us know what they are.
     
  5. albertpancakes

    albertpancakes Private E-2

    Hi Halo, thanks for your response.

    I downloaded and installed both those driver sets from the links you provided, rebooting at each point you suggested. Audio didn't work in browsers after that unfortunately. I checked Services as you recommended and the settings were already in the state you mentioned. Troubleshooting failed to identify the problem (i've attached the details in a word doc) and I can't see any yellow marks in device manager under sound.

    So no good news to report :( Anything else I could try?
     

    Attached Files:

  6. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Are there any yellow ! marks next any other devices, not just audio?

    Does sound play say a normal CD or normal Windows type sounds like and startup etc? and its just Browser audio thats not working?

    If using IE, then try Opera HERE and see if audio works?



    Its possible that even uninstalling Flash and Java the normal ways it may leave old files on the PC so try the below

    Flash
    Java
     
  7. albertpancakes

    albertpancakes Private E-2

    Thankyou again Halo, and sorry its taken me a while to implement your advice- I've just had a set of uni exams :)

    Sound on my computer works fine running windows and when I run programs like games, the sound is fine except for the intro for one game ("EA Games" or something similar)- Battlefield Bad Company 2, in which no sound plays. I remember for a fact that sound used to play at that point before I was hit with the malware. Once I get to the main menu the sound kicks in.

    Apart from that, it is a sound problem with browsers only. I tried downloading opera but the result was the same- no sound when using opera aswell. Itunes and windows media player still work fine.

    I went through and removed flash in the way you suggested (but leaving the program "acrobat.com" because I thought it was unrelated). After removing Adobe programs and running the Adobe uninstaller I checked in the Windows folder but there was no folder named "Macromed" or "Macromedia"- I couldn't find a folder named flash or macromedia.

    I ran CCleaner but with the Cleaner option I didn't check any boxes that weren't already checked (you didn't want me to run a cleaner on everything did you?). I ran registry a few times and fixed the issues it was having (I also saved backups of the registry just in case). I ran the Windows Installer Cleanup tool but Macromedia and Flash weren't on the list of programs. I then rebooted and installed Flash and Shockwave from the links you posted.

    Within Add/Remove programs Java was not listed so I think Java might not be on my computer. For that reason, I didn't have any Java files to uninstall and didn't run JavaRA.

    I've just tried opening a clip in youtube which uses sound and there's still no sound, unfortunately.

    Because browsers that open a windows media player file have sound and work fine I think you're right in thinking it's a problem with Flash/Shockwave. Should I be doing anything differently?

    Thankyou again
     
  8. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi


    No just as the default options are fine, some of the others if ticked can cause issues at times.

    Ah my bad on the location, I have 100s of guides pre-typed up for issues like this that commonly crop up at times, saves me typing from scratch, the location above is for XP, for Windows 7 the Macromedia folder is located in a hidden folder here > C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia just copy and paste that into the start search box and it should showup, if it does, follow the instructions again to uninstall FlashPlayer *do have all browsers closed when uninstalling flash* and then open that folder if found and delete it completly.

    Then run CCleaner and its Cleaner and Registry cleaner again, then re-install Flash.



    Something as an alternative track to try that I have been reading up on is to use the k-lite Tweak Tool and its fix audio issues component. Install and Run then pop a tick in the Detect broken Codecs and Filters box and click Next.
     
  9. albertpancakes

    albertpancakes Private E-2

    Hi Halo,

    Thanks for that- I uninstalled all Adobe components including Flash and went to that location you gave me and found a folder called Macromedia and deleted it. I ran CCleaner registry and cleaner and reinstalled Flash in the way you said but unfortunately that didn't change anything with sound in browsers.

    I also tried the K-lite tweak tool and checked the "fix audio issues" box but that didn't help.

    Something I've only just noticed is that I don't get a sound when Windows starts up. When I change the volume it makes a tone which I can hear but I think a lot of the other Windows sounds might be missing (this is my first time using Windows 7 and I only had it for about a month before I started having these problems so I wasn't too familiar with the sounds beforehand).

    Any more ideas? Thanks again for your advice
     
  10. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi Albert

    The ideas I have are running thin on the ground as you have correct settings for most of the audio issues and you have checked the troubleshooters which are normally good in resolving audio issues.

    But as you have Windows 7, with a browser windows and say youtube page open, click the speaker icon in the System Tray then click Mixer and make sure none of the options are on zero.


    Another option is a registry one, so do follow this carefully, click Start and type in the Start Search box regedit and hit enter, once the registry opens, navigate to this location

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

    and look in the right hand window for a key named wavemapper (as in my image below) if its not found then right click in a blank space in the right hand windows and choose NEW > String Value and name it wavemapper, then double click the new key and type in the Value Data box msacm32.drv

    [​IMG]

    then make sure you have msacm32.drv in your Windows/system32 folder, can just type that name into the start search box and it should show, if not unzip and copy the attached one out of the zip folder from my PC into the C:\Windows\System32 folder and reboot and try sound again.



    *please note folks that this file is from Windows 7 and attached to fix Alberts audio issue, so if you dont have Windows 7 or this issue then using the file and instruction may cause more issues with your PC.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2013

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