# [SOLVED] Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742



## Julian W (Sep 30, 2008)

Over the last few days I have started getting crackly/intermittent sound out of the speakers when listening to music or watching a video. I use a USB sound card with external speakers attached usually due to some damage to the headphone jack, and the sound crackles when using this as well as simply using the laptop speakers.

I have searched the forum for this issue and it is clear that it is fairly common.
-I have tried removing the Realtek drivers, but the problem remains when the laptop is just using the default Windows drivers, so I am reinstalling them now. 
-I have tried installing older and newer versions of the Realtek drivers, in both cases getting the error message saying that they aren't compatible.
-I tried doing a system restore to a couple of days ago when I didn't have the problem but this didn't solve the issue. 


I had originally thought it was a problem either either my external speakers or the USB sound card then I realised the problem also occurs when I am just using the in built speakers.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated as it is very irritating! 

Many thanks


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742*

You are correct in that a common cause is the audio drivers. However, the Realtek drivers would only apply to the laptop speakers or the laptop headphone jack. The USB sound card uses it's own drivers. Thus any changes to the Realtek drivers make no difference.

Is it all audio or is it specific to type or application?


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## Julian W (Sep 30, 2008)

*Re: Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742*

It can happen intermittently on any program. On the following link (MY STUFF: [Solved] Crackling Sounds coming from Your Laptop) it says the cause was some VPN software, which I have some on my laptop but the problem started a while after that was installed.

Starting to run out of ideas!


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742*

It will likely be a long and drawn out process to isolate the cause. Aside from just drivers, crackling can result from high cpu usage (audio is low priority and one of the first items to be impacted) or conflicts with other software/drivers (as noted in your reference above).

You will basically need to start paying attention to what you are doing and what is running when the problem occurs. Then after a few instances, check to see what is in common.


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## Julian W (Sep 30, 2008)

*Re: Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742*

Sorted it - in this case it turned out to be Malwarebytes Pro causing the issue when running.

Thanks for your help!


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Crackly sound on Acer aspire 5742*

Glad you could figure it out.


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