[a-ko]

hey, my friend just showed me these forums and i'm really glad that there is such a place on the internet.

my problem:

i use my computer mostly for recording/working on music.

the program i use, Cool Edit Pro has worked perfectly forever, but just recently, whenever i try to record from an incoming source, not only does the program take a good 20 seconds to start recording, it also skips around a lot when recording and playing back.

additionally, when i try to listen to mp3s the sound skips around a lot too.

for some reason, when i listen to sound, from, lets say a video or something online...i do not have this problem.

this just started happening recently, and it's really bothering me, as working with this program is basically my life.

additionally, other programs have been taking a really really long time to start up, but seem to run smoothly and just as quickly as before i had this problem when they are finally started up. basically every program, even though theres a slow start-up time, is totally useable, except for my sound programs.

another thing i noticed is now when XP starts, it pauses at the logo/blue bad loading screen for a much longer time, then has a very long black-screen pause before it finally gets to the "windows is starting up" screen.

i might add that i have been using dial-up internet, and just recently got a high-speed connection, about 2.5 weeks before this problem started.



as for what i've done to try to fix it:

ive decreased my number of programs at start-up

cleaned my registry

ran 4 or 5 anti-virus and spyware/adware programs on my computer, including the new microsfot anti-virus program

deleted/uninstalled any programs i never use anymore

freed up about 26 gb on my main hard drive.


in stumped. nothing seems to help.

can you offer any advice? i backed up my hard drive recently (before i had this problem), and was considering just formatting my hard drive and starting from scratch. would this even do anything or do you think this is more of a hardware issue?

thanks a lot, and any help is much appreciated.

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Most probably this is a software conflict or malware/viruses. One quick fix that I don't see listed in yur post would be defragging your HD. This can often cause system latency if you don't do it on a regular basis, even more so if you've been installing/uninstalling apps on your system and have never done it.

As far as being hardware related, it could be that your HD is starting to give out, but that is much less likely.

Let me know if the defrag helps, and if not, we'll start exploring other avenues.

[BabyTech]

Most probably this is a software conflict or malware/viruses. One quick fix that I don't see listed in yur post would be defragging your HD. This can often cause system latency if you don't do it on a regular basis, even more so if you've been installing/uninstalling apps on your system and have never done it.

As far as being hardware related, it could be that your HD is starting to give out, but that is much less likely.

Let me know if the defrag helps, and if not, we'll start exploring other avenues.

[SRX660]

I have Cool Edit 2000 and it has worked flawlessly in win 98, ME, and XP. Now, i use Creative SB live, and Audigy sound cards and have never had any problems. Are you using onboard sound? It may be that the drivers have been corrupted, but i really don't think this is likely. This sounds like some other program or some kind of spyware/malware is interfering. Another thought i have is that some of the newest computers have DRM built-in and it is interfering with cool edit. I do not have this problem because i build my own computers. H-P, Compaq, Dell, and other manufactured computers have DRM set so that it cannot be disabled. This is installed when the OS is installed on the computer. Ain't much help here but its what i can think of.

SRX660

[gerryf]

Just as a test...try playing an MP3 in a different program, like windows media player

Then we can isolate hardware or OS, from program

[a-ko]

hi, thanks for the replies.

i forgot to mention, i DID defragment my hard drive already and it didnt help much.

i had trouble when i was using my onboard soundcard, and have been using a soundblaster live! for a while now. again, ive had no troubles with sound whatsoever up until about a week ago. ive been using the soundblaster for a couple years with no troubles.

and me and my dad built my computer a couple years ago, so i dont think it is having the problems mentioned as far as Compaqs and so on. like i said, everything was working perfectly up until about a week ago, so this problem just started happening out of the blue.

any other ideas? would formatting help?

[gerryf]

Just as a test...try playing an MP3 in a different program, like windows media player

Then we can isolate hardware or OS, from program

[Nait Dawg]

Most probably this is a software conflict or malware/viruses. One quick fix that I don't see listed in yur post would be defragging your HD. This can often cause system latency if you don't do it on a regular basis, even more so if you've been installing/uninstalling apps on your system and have never done it.

As far as being hardware related, it could be that your HD is starting to give out, but that is much less likely.

Let me know if the defrag helps, and if not, we'll start exploring other avenues.

I'm gonna go ahead and dissagree with this statement here. A defrag is a waste of time in windows XP. There are other tools that take about 1/10000 the time of a defrag and it's pretty much become obsolete since the rate of fragmentation in an XP machine is pretty stable. The Malware/spyware idea comes to mind. Try going over and reposting your orrignal post with a Hijack this log in the malware removal forum. Other then that, How much memory are you running, and have you any idea how to adjust virtual memory? Just asking....oh....and I like gerry's idea. You should listen to him....he's good.

Extra note: If you wish to do a system reorganize and cleanup I would suddgest getting a windows cleanup tool which you can get here.

http://www.stevengou...p/CleanUp40.exe

[a-ko]

i tried playing some mp3s (and wavs, what i work with) in iTunes and windows media player, i had a similar problem with clicking/skipping around in both programs. however, neither was as severe as in cooledit, which is the one program i really wish would work so i could continue working on projects.

again, do you think formatting the hd and reinstalling windows/cooledit would help? or is the problem deeper?

[Nait Dawg]

*cringes* Ouch...no man. Don't reformat/reinstall. Thats just a time consuming solve all. It should be your absolute last option if nothing else works. Just a few questions real quick. Does it take twenty seconds or so to start when the source is internet? Or is it whenever you plug in a sound in device? Have you tried uninstalling the program itself and reinstalling it? (backing up your data in a safe place first of course) And Have you checked you page file usage and your processor percentage usage through the taskmanager? HAve you noticed anything else being slow? Most specifically the internet...or when you open "my computer"...does it take a while with a little flashlight? How much memory is in the computer? Have you rescently installed anything new...like an extra HD...or CD drive? Also...how much open space is on your hard drive? (IE 53%, 45%, 20%?) Just was wondering. It's hard to tell just whats going on without looking for myself, but these would be things I'd check....not to mention the sound card drivers....have you tried looking for an update there? Do you have a PCI sound card? OR is it onboard? Sorry to ask so many questions...just sparked my interest. *laughs*

[a-ko]

*cringes* Ouch...no man. Don't reformat/reinstall. Thats just a time consuming solve all. It should be your absolute last option if nothing else works. Just a few questions real quick. Does it take twenty seconds or so to start when the source is internet? Or is it whenever you plug in a sound in device? Have you tried uninstalling the program itself and reinstalling it? (backing up your data in a safe place first of course) And Have you checked you page file usage and your processor percentage usage through the taskmanager? HAve you noticed anything else being slow? Most specifically the internet...or when you open "my computer"...does it take a while with a little flashlight? How much memory is in the computer? Have you rescently installed anything new...like an extra HD...or CD drive? Also...how much open space is on your hard drive? (IE 53%, 45%, 20%?) Just was wondering. It's hard to tell just whats going on without looking for myself, but these would be things I'd check....not to mention the sound card drivers....have you tried looking for an update there? Do you have a PCI sound card? OR is it onboard? Sorry to ask so many questions...just sparked my interest. *laughs*

no matter what, cool edit takes a while to start. basically every program takes a while to start up.

i record everything off of vinyl, so everything runs in through the line-in port on my soundcard.

i havent tried reinstalling it, but mostly because of the fact that all my sound programs are running poorly, so im guessing the problem is deeper than just cooledit.

processor percentage varies between 0-2%. basically its running smooth as ever overall, but the program loading time is ridiculously slow for some reason.

opening "my computer" takes a little bit but theres no flashlight. HOWEVER, in certain programs when i try to open a file, there is the flashlight image for a bit before my files show up.

i havent installed anything new lately, hardware-wise.

i have a 200gb hard drive, roughly 50% is free.

PCI soundcard, havent checked for drivers recently..


hope that helps

[a-ko]

well, i just downloaded new drivers for my Soundblaster Live! soundcard, yet when i ran the executable, it said it didnt detect any such soundcard on my system.

very strange since in my audio devices, it says Creative SB Live! soundcard, and that it is running properly....

hmm.


also, what really concerns me is the incredibly long windows start-up time recently, any help on that? i think it might be connected since this all started at the same time (a little over a week ago..)

[Nait Dawg]

Alright good. First sudgestion is this. Go over to the malware/spyware forum and look in the removal forums to get a descent spyware removal program...then I'd get a descent antivirus which they can recommend in there. After you've gotten rid of all your trojans and spyware and other such things then see how it runs. If it still isn't running smoothly and everything is running just as slow. There are two or three more things to try that I'm sure will definately help. But the safest and first thing is the spyware and malware removals....I already got in trouble for telling someone how, so I can't tell you that, you'll have to go read up and Download yourself or ask an expert...but it's simple. Let me know if it's still running slow after that and I'll walk you through some other things. This is not a reinstall windows problem. I can assure you there are better options out there.

[a-ko]

Alright good. First sudgestion is this. Go over to the malware/spyware forum and look in the removal forums to get a descent spyware removal program...then I'd get a descent antivirus which they can recommend in there. After you've gotten rid of all your trojans and spyware and other such things then see how it runs. If it still isn't running smoothly and everything is running just as slow. There are two or three more things to try that I'm sure will definately help. But the safest and first thing is the spyware and malware removals....I already got in trouble for telling someone how, so I can't tell you that, you'll have to go read up and Download yourself or ask an expert...but it's simple. Let me know if it's still running slow after that and I'll walk you through some other things. This is not a reinstall windows problem. I can assure you there are better options out there.

that was the first thing i did, i have about 5 running currently..haha

thanks though, whats the next option?

[Nait Dawg]

Did it find any spyware and did you figure out how to get rid of it all? If you did, kudos....did it help any at all? If it did...great....if it didn't and your system is clean then press control+alt+del and then go over to the performance tab and then let me know what the processor percentage and the Page file usage bars say? Most specifically....how many bars in the page file ussage and what percent of your processor.

[a-ko]

the first run of the spyware/virus programs found things, got rid of them and now they never find anything each time they run.

CPU usage is staying pretty steady at about 0-2%, but if im doing anything (typing, moving the mouse) it raises to about 5-7%. however, looking at the graph, it was hitting 100% at one point, which im guessing was when i opened a program or something.

PF usage is staying at 249mb...