sound pops and skips here and elsewhere

[zaldar]

Ok so the sound in Children of the Nile pops and skips get static every once in awhile. It isn't just this game either, any game and any other application that uses sound has the same problem. I am currently using an Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard with an onboard realtek HD audio soundcard. Yes I know I should get a non onboard sound care working on that. I have updated the soundcard with the most recent drivers (as far as I can tell the asus website isn't all that easy to use) and the problem takes place if I use either my headphones or my speakers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Keith]

Make sure that your current preferred sound system is set as the default playback device in the Windows Control Panel. Sometimes other devices that have sound capability hijack this setting. Example, some dialup modems have WAV capabilities and sometimes reset the default playback device to the modem.

You can try fooling around with hardware acceleration level for sound and voice on the Control Panel Speech, Sound, and Audio Devices menu.

Try disconnecting the speakers from the computer and plug them back in. Check for any type of connection on the back of the speakers and do the same there.

You may want to open the computer case, then remove the sound card, clean out any dust from inside the system (disconnect from power before doing this) and then put the sound card back in making sure that the card is properly seated in its slot.

You may have to invest in an actual sound card to use in place of your realtek onboard system. Sounds like your motherboard sound setup has developed some kind of fault since the problem occurs with both headphones and speakers.

Make sure that you have the correct sound drivers for your system and that they are correctly installed as per Realtek instructions.