Audio skipping issue...iTunes and Media Player

I am not sure if this is the right forum but I am hoping I can get some direction with this. My computer will not effectively play audio files. I have iTunes, Windows Media Player, VLC Player and all of them have the same issue. While playing the song it will inadvertently slow the song way down and make it really "choppy" is the best way I can describe it. It is almost like my computer is doing way too much at one time to handle playing music.

I tried closing all programs and running it that way, I tried playing music in the Guest login on my computer. I am not sure if it is a Virus, Adware, Spyware or what but it stinks. I have Nod32 installed and running so I do not believe I have any Viruses but please let me know what I can do to fix this.

BTW, I did update my audio card drivers...

 

Hi gatorsUF,

What OS are you using?

How much RAM & CPU do you have?

Go to run and type

It will show you a screen that lists many specs of your computer.


Download and run Ccleaner - http://majorgeeks.com/download4191.htm run both the cleaner and the registry cleaner options. a few times until it finds no more.

While you have ccleaner open go to >> "tools" >> "start up" >> and post a list of the items that are there.



Q

 

I attached the DxDiag.txt log file so you can see my specs.

I should easily have enough specs to atleast run iTunes.

I ran CCleaner, and disabled a few Startup items. Quicktime, Logitech Cam, HP Update, Adobe Reader. There is a SoundMaxPnP listed should I disable that?

 

If you dont use any custom sound settings you can disable "SoundMaxPnP" with no effect at all.

******

Next lets try some general maintenance....

Go to run and type...

Then say yes and restart your computer, this scan might take a while.

Once that is finished run a defrag, [dont use the built in windows one!!]

If you dont already have agood one, here is two free good ones...
Auslogics - http://majorgeeks.com/Auslogics_Disk_Defrag_d5266.html

Defraggler - http://majorgeeks.com/Defraggler_d5777.html [i rec' this one]


Then lets see where we are after that


Also what AV, Firewall security app's are you running?


Q

 

I ran the chkdsk and it took a while, when I came back it appeared to have restarted and attempted to boot. It had and error that said something to the effect of "diskette 0 failed to boot..." or something, then it said press f1 to retry and f2 to load boot setup. Neither would respond so i restarted manually.

That said, I think the chkdsk ran just some sort of boot error.

I am running the defrag now.

 

The problem still persists after chkdsk and defrag. I do believe that it is a system resource issue because the computer doesn't respond very well when it is skipping in the song, but it is weird since the computer runs a lot of other programs no problem. I can actually watch videos just fine on it. Not sure if its just a mp3 problem or what.

 

Hi gator' you have more than ample resources to play an MP3 and if you can play a vid with no prob's then, im thnking a driver issue.

Go to your device manager and search for any newer drivers [right click them and select "update"]

Also while it is doing it press

To open your task manager and see what is using what CPU and memory.

Q

 

seems that when its skipping the top item is iTunes. Like I said, it also skips when played through Windows Media Player. iTunes should run fine anyways...

 

DPC latency checker maybe useful here.

 

I tried disabling my sound cards and the latency thing didn't change. I do get a large red bar about every 3 seconds so this may be the issue...

 

Didi you try updating the drivers?

What is this large red bar? when are you seeing it?

Q

 

Looks like you'll need to find out what's causing the DPC latency spike, follow the driver disabling instructions on the link I posted, disable one at a time, test each time.

 

I have attempted to disable all sorts of different devices, no luck. Is there any other way to check my latency where it is more specific? When I open iTunes and have the latencychecker running, it spikes like crazy...

Would formatting and reinstalling by chance?

 

Probably wouldn't fix anything if the problem is caused by a driver that will be reinstalled on reloading windows, we need to trace the culprit before deciding the best route to take.

http://blogs.msdn.com/pigscanfly/archive/2006/10/09/ISRs-and-DPCs_2C00_-The-Silent-Killers.aspx

See also Windows Performance toolkit - xperf.

 

So I read all of that stuff and I think part of my brain exploded. I am somewhat proficient in simple computer repair, but this is beyond my abilities? Is there a forum where someone can walk me through the steps? That I can handle...

Seems very case by case so this might not be possible, but the inability to play music is an issue...

 

Hi Gator,
Try going into control panel >> sound and audio devices >> speeaker settings "advanced" tab >> perormance >> and lower or higher the hardware acceleration and sample rate conversion to see if it changes.

Q

 

You'll still need to run the tests even if someone walked you through it all - try collecting an xperf trace and host it online for me to download and look at - password the zip if you want and PM the pass to me.

 

That command didn't work, I assume that it is because it is for Vista right? I tried the XP support link, but it tells me to get the xperf.exe file from a vista disk...

 

It should work fine with XP SP2 and later, try here.

EDIT - but the help with xperf is not great ... not sure if the command switches are all supported in XP, try removing them singly, even a basic trace may show something we can work on.

EDIT 2 - try something like xperf -i result.etl -o diskio.txt -a diskio

 

Another thought - try disabling your secondary graphics adapter, if you have one, it may be that checking for a second monitor is causing the latency.