Audio Stutter on fresh install of Windows 7

Revol said:

Any ideas what to do? I'm basically desperate

Edit: I uninstalled the NVIDIA display drivers and so far I haven't encountered the glitch. I'll keep you posted.

Click to expand...

You may not need to uninstall the nVidea drivers but instead disable the CPU sucking unneeded background processes the drivers install.

There's probably at least one service as well as a couple of background helper (cough, gag) utilities.

Ap

Could you be more specific? I'm a bit of a novice and I don't get all the technical language.

PS: Can the fact that I switched from a 32-bit Windows Vista OS to a 64-bit Windows 7 OS be an issue?

Anyone?

protostar8 said:

Just an update. I turned off the event manager in CA Security Suite and that really seems to have relieved the issue. I have only had it occur one time since turning it off and it was brief and in Firefox, so not a big deal. Thank you for all the help and I hope the problem stays gone!

Click to expand...

Glad you are sorted - I know how maddening it is! If you have a poor wireless connection - when speeds get really low (eg due to weather conditions) - it will cause a couple of seconds of mild stuttering on Youtube etc (as you describe)

No 2 on my list - maybe I ought to elevate it to No.1 to try!
Test with Anti-virus/Security Prog off (then write severe email to (non)software perpetrators for driving you up the wall.)

Revol said:

Could you be more specific? I'm a bit of a novice and I don't get all the technical language.

PS: Can the fact that I switched from a 32-bit Windows Vista OS to a 64-bit Windows 7 OS be an issue?

Click to expand...

Doubtful that the 32-64 bit switch is an issue.

When you uninstalled the nVidia drivers, Microsoft probably defaulted back to the basic nVidia drivers that ship with Windows 7.

The full package from nVidia installs several background utilities/services that often muck things up, what's more aggravating is that they are generally not needed for normal use.

How are things working now with the Microsoft drivers.

Ap

Aphelion said:

Revol said:

Could you be more specific? I'm a bit of a novice and I don't get all the technical language.

PS: Can the fact that I switched from a 32-bit Windows Vista OS to a 64-bit Windows 7 OS be an issue?

Click to expand...

Doubtful that the 32-64 bit switch is an issue.

When you uninstalled the nVidia drivers, Microsoft probably defaulted back to the basic nVidia drivers that ship with Windows 7.

The full package from nVidia installs several background utilities/services that often muck things up, what's more aggravating is that they are generally not needed for normal use.

How are things working now with the Microsoft drivers.

Ap

Click to expand...

No, when I uninstall the NVIDIA drivers, Windows installs the VGA display adapter or something, which is pretty crap since it doesn't support many programs and services.

For the moment, I installed another type of driver from NVIDIA, which was compatible only with Windows Vista but nonetheless works perfectly. So far, I've had the problem occur only once, when the system was way too overloaded and I had to restart it. If I encounter it again frequently, I'll come back and let you know.

I've already enconutered the problem a few times, so much for that.

You wee talking about disabling the CPU sucking unneeded background processes the drivers install. Could you be a bit more specific?

Revol said:

I've already enconutered the problem a few times, so much for that.

You wee talking about disabling the CPU sucking unneeded background processes the drivers install. Could you be a bit more specific?

Click to expand...

Sure, right click in a blank spot on the Taskbar, select "Start Task Manager".

Select the processes tab.
Do -not- check the box in the lower left "Show Processes for all Users".
If it's selected, de-select.

You will see a list of background processes running.

Are there any that begin with nv
There may be only one.

If so, select and then click on the End Process button.

Let's get that far.

Ap

Might be good if you can post a list of the background processes you have running.

Here's a screenshot of Processes.



I tried ending the nvvsvc.exe process, but Windows says "The operation could not be ended. Acess is denied".

Revol said:

Here's a screenshot of Processes.

I tried ending the nvvsvc.exe process, but Windows says "The operation could not be ended. Acess is denied".

Click to expand...

Are you logged in as administrator?

Here's some info on the process....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
nvvsvc.exe is Vista service installed NVIDIA drivers for graphics cards (or graphics cards based on an NVIDIA chipset). This service is used by some of the specific advanced features of your NVidia graphics card, in particular overclocking, overriding of the refresh rate for OpenGL games, and dual monitor display. This service has a history under Windows 2000/XP for being responsible for various system slowdowns and excessive memory usage. If you do not use any of the advanced features, it is recommended that you disable the service by setting it to disabled in the Startup Mode of the Services tab.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Services is located in Control Panel/Administrative Tools.

You have a lot of stuff running in the background, it's never a surprise to me that machines don't work correctly.

Hopefully, all that stuff isn't running right after booting the machine.

My PC has 7 processes running a couple of minutes after a restart.
Spent many years setting up PC's for pro audio use, they need to be run lean and mean if possible.

Ap

I disabled the serivce in the Services tab. I'll let you know if it solves the problem or not.

Revol said:

I disabled the serivce in the Services tab. I'll let you know if it solves the problem or not.

Click to expand...

Might not, there's a lot of other stuff you had running.

Did you notice any other nvidia reference while poking around in services?

Ap

If you open that same window up again but don't make the "name" column huge, you can see the amount of space each process is using. When I was having problems, the program that was causing the issue was taking up WAY more space then the others. You might want to see if you have a similar situation. It was like 5-10 times more than other programs, which is a lot. Hope you can get yours fixed too b/c I know first hand that it sucks!

Revol said:

Here's a screenshot of Processes.

I tried ending the nvvsvc.exe process, but Windows says "The operation could not be ended. Acess is denied".

Click to expand...

The problem is still there. Here's an accurate screenshot of the processes window.



As you can see, the program using most space is Firefox, but I've had the problem occur even when Firefox wasn't running, I think. Any suggestions?

Aphelion said:

Revol said:

I disabled the serivce in the Services tab. I'll let you know if it solves the problem or not.

Click to expand...

Might not, there's a lot of other stuff you had running.

Did you notice any other nvidia reference while poking around in services?

Ap

Click to expand...

Um, not really. There was only the nvsvc thingy running, which I disabled, but I don't notice any other reference regarding NVIDIA.

Is there a way to install another graphic driver other than NVIDIA?

Revol said:

Aphelion said:

Revol said:

I disabled the serivce in the Services tab. I'll let you know if it solves the problem or not.

Click to expand...

Might not, there's a lot of other stuff you had running.

Did you notice any other nvidia reference while poking around in services?

Ap

Click to expand...

Um, not really. There was only the nvsvc thingy running, which I disabled, but I don't notice any other reference regarding NVIDIA.

Is there a way to install another graphic driver other than NVIDIA?

Click to expand...

No, that is the graphics system you have installed.

Regarding the screenshot:

You have other processes running that could cause the problem.

I can't really tell you how to go through all of them. The screen shot shows CPU use at 21%, if you "show processes from all users", what's using the CPU?

Of the processes shown, it's possible one of them is causing the glitch.

Kaspersky
ITunesHelper
DNA ??
Last FM
Skype and Skype extras (also a definite possibility)
Wlcomm (a likely suspect)

The way I trouble shoot is to kill one process at a time, then test.
You have to be consistent. First reboot, (don't run any other programs) test audio, if the small glitch is still present, end one of the background processes, test again.

Curse Windows-7 audio... for every step forward (HD audio) there's a couple of steps back.

Ap

None of those processes is causing the problem. I uninstalled the NVIDIA driver, and now I'm running all programs without any stuttering or sound glitch. So it's safe to say the sole problem is the NVIDIA driver.

There's another thing. I tried downloading the latest driver compatible with Windows 7, but during installation, I get the message: "NVIDIA wasn't able to identify drivers compatible with the current hardware". I searched a bit and I read that installing the ATI Radeon Graphics Card Driver Catalyst 7.8 would solve the issue, but even during the ATI installation I get the message: "Failed to find any installable components! There is no compatible hardware detected".

Any suggestions?

Revol said:

None of those processes is causing the problem. I uninstalled the NVIDIA driver, and now I'm running all programs without any stuttering or sound glitch. So it's safe to say the sole problem is the NVIDIA driver.

There's another thing. I tried downloading the latest driver compatible with Windows 7, but during installation, I get the message: "NVIDIA wasn't able to identify drivers compatible with the current hardware". I searched a bit and I read that installing the ATI Radeon Graphics Card Driver Catalyst 7.8 would solve the issue, but even during the ATI installation I get the message: "Failed to find any installable components! There is no compatible hardware detected".

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

You can't install drivers from another hardware manufacturer, period!

What I would do is find the Vista drivers for your card (Geforce 8600M GS 256 MB), download and install them.

Ap

That was the thing I did first place.

I sent a complaint to NVIDIA Customer Care, they're pretty much my last hope now. Man, I feel so down. I should have never installed Windows 7. Vista was just fine.

I think I might have solved the problem for good. There's this great web page that offers tips on how to disable the stuttering. I followed some of them (mostly the NVIDIA Options) and so far I haven't encountered the problem. Recommend it to anyone who's having the same issue.