Audio Problem

I have run spysweeper, norton, checked and disabled processes that I thought were maximizing my capacity in task manager, I have uninstalled and reinstalled my drivers from the device manager, I have run my ccleaner, system mechanic, etc... I have tried all sorts of things. My next step is a tech. When I play music in Windows Media Player, and some games, I get a lagging or studdering sound. Like the sound skips. Its been going on for about 2 months now. I've updated my Windows Media Player to version 11. Man, I've done everything. I thought about using the system restore disks, but I will lose everything i've put on my computer.

I have an HP Media Center edition, with AC97 Realtek sound device. Everyone on these forums thought it might be my OS/Processes running. But I don't think that's it, I've shut those down, and stopped programs from running at startup. My wife had installed her itunes on our computer, but that didn't make a difference before. My internet works fine. The only other thing, when I reboot my computer, the load up seems to take longer than before.

What else could possibly be the problem with this sound/video issue and the loadup:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead?

 

I've seen an almost identical problem on a laptop that had a hard drive that was dying. The boot up was slower than usual, and music and video was jumpy and 'skipped' alot. Upon running a hard drive diagnostic, we learned that the device was failing. So, visit the hard drive maker's web site, download and run their diagnostic tool and be sure to run the extended/advanced tests. It can take some time, so be patient. If you don't know who made the hard drive, go into your device manager and look under disk drives. Then Google the model number listed. If it starts with an IC or HS it's usually Hitachi; WD is Western Digital (duh); MK is Toshiba, etc....

 

Oh... you may want to think about backing up all your important files BEFORE running the diagnostic... These diagnostic tests can be hard on a drive, and if it's failing, it may be enough to put the device 'over the edge'. It's rare, but I've seen happen....

 

I've already done a defrag/compress of the hard drive & registry that wasn't any help. Man I sure hope there's nothing wrong with the hard drive. Its not even 2 years old. Everything else works fine.

 

Here is my sound device system info:

Name Realtek AC'97 Audio
Manufacturer Realtek
Status OK
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4370&SUBSYS_2A27103C&REV_02\3&61AAA01&0&A5
Memory Address 0xFE02A000-0xFE02A0FF
IRQ Channel IRQ 17
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\alcxwdm.sys (5.10.5910 built by: WinDDK, 3.48 MB (3,644,928 bytes), 11/12/2005 9:57 AM)


Here is my audio codec:

c:\windows\system32\iac25_32.ax Intel Corporation Indeo® audio software OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\IAC25_32.AX 2.05.53 195.00 KB (199,680 bytes) 8/10/2004 2:00 PM
c:\windows\system32\imaadp32.acm Microsoft Corporation imaadp32.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\IMAADP32.ACM 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) 16.00 KB (16,384 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\l3codeca.acm Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen IIS Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\L3CODECA.ACM 1, 9, 0, 0305 284.00 KB (290,816 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\msadp32.acm Microsoft Corporation msadp32.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSADP32.ACM 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) 14.50 KB (14,848 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\msaud32.acm Microsoft Corporation Windows Media Audio Codec OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSAUD32.ACM 8.00.00.4487 288.00 KB (294,912 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\msg711.acm Microsoft Corporation msg711.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSG711.ACM 5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148) 9.00 KB (9,216 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\msg723.acm Microsoft Corporation msg723.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSG723.ACM 4.4.3400 116.00 KB (118,784 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\msgsm32.acm Microsoft Corporation msgsm32.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSGSM32.ACM 5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148) 19.50 KB (19,968 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\sl_anet.acm Sipro Lab Telecom Inc. Sipro Lab Telecom Audio Codec OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\SL_ANET.ACM 3.02 84.00 KB (86,016 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM
c:\windows\system32\tssoft32.acm DSP GROUP, INC. tssoft32.acm OK C:\WINDOWS\system32\TSSOFT32.ACM 1.01 8.00 KB (8,192 bytes) 8/10/2004 7:00 AM

 

Is that Realtek AC'97 Audio sound device onboard sound? If so, I think you'll save yourself more grief with this problem by installing an add-on sound card and disabling your onboard sound. You need an empty PCI slot. Here are the offerings from newegg.com: Sound Cards. And, from TigerDirect.com: Sound Cards

 

Man, I don't know anything about installing hardware to my computer. I sat on the phone with a tech last night, and tried all kinds of troubleshooting. We're at the point of me getting a scandisk to back up some files, and using the system recovery disks.