soccerchamp76

Specs:
Windows XP Professional SP2
Intel 3.2GHz Prescott
1GB RAM
NVIDIA 6800 graphics card
Desktop

Problem: Occasionally my computer will slow down and the mouse will skip when I move it across the screen. My speakers will put out a soft, constant beat of static every 2 seconds making listening to music unfeasible. At this point I can hear my HDD spinning louder and then gets softer again right away. Sometimes the problem goes away shortly (an hour or so), other times it doesn't and even remains after I restart the computer.

When it occurs, I checked the Task Manager and found no offending processing that would be causing the slowdown. I have run Ad-Aware+Spybot in regular and safe mode and found nothing. Machine is clear of virii, spyware, malware, and other annoying software. Temperature specs are normal. Any thoughts?

__________________
Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department.
Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

shakran

go download HijackThis! and paste it's output into here.

Jinn

When did you install XP SP2? It might be a time for the yearly reformat.

These EXACT same things have happened to me about a year after installation. As a matter of fact, it's about that time this year and I've got the same problem. It's just a stuttering of sound, as if the song has frozen.. rather than static, this time.

__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

cyrnel

Sounds like a driver or hardware conflict. Do you see any questions or exclamations in device manager?

Did this begin recently or has it done it since the box went together?
If this is something new, can you recall if you installed or changed hardware or drivers just beforehand?

Try to duplicate the problem after unplugging everything besides the basics, including hubs, printers, Ethernet, etc.

__________________
There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

soccerchamp76

Well, I did some messing around with the drivers and ended up in a huge pile of crap. I uninstalled a driver I wasn't using and then my Windows snagged after I typed the password in. 3 hours and 20 restarts later I finally got it working again.
I have been planning on reformatting again as it's been quite awhile since my last spring cleaning. I just gotta find another WindowsXP CD as I lost mine. Thanks for the replies all.

__________________
Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department.
Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.