Music playback "skips"

[Strygun]

Hey folks,

I've been having a problem recently with my music playback. On my computer, I have all the songs that I own in mp3 or m4a format. When I play them (using any software... including WMP10 and iTunes7), there are random "skips" in the songs. It sounds exactly like what happens when a CD is lightly scratched. It's not a repetitive-playback of the last second like a deep CD scratch, but just a "hiccup" in the playback.

Now, here's what I know:
It happens in both WMP10 and iTunes7.
It doesn't happen in the same place in the song every time.
My computer is "idling" other than just the music program. (I.E., no major tasks running.)
It happens with both CD-imported music and iTunes-downloaded music.
When I noticed this problem, I updated my sound drivers thinking that was the problem. (it wasn't.)
A few months ago, it never happened. Within the past month, it's become regular.

Any help?!

[Setari]

It might be your sound card itself. That's all I can think of it being.

[MattxMosh]

Did you destroy all traces of your previous sound drivers?

[Biohazzard56]

In dxdiag, try playing around with your hardware sound acceleration. The slider should be all the way to the right.

Like Matt suggested; remove the traces of any previous drivers. If that doesnt work. Uninstall and then Reinstall the card from Device Manager.

[Strygun]

Here's another bit of info: it doesn't always happen. For example, I just listened to about 10 songs in a row and didn't hear any skipping whatsoever.

[Biohazzard56]

Still sounds like corrupted drivers or driver fragments.

[Strygun]

Can I get some detailed instructions as to how to hunt down the old drivers and delete them? Or instructions as to how to do anything to fix this?

[Kam]

Spybot has an option to remove drivers that are no longer in use or fragmented.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

[Strygun]

Can anyone interpret this? This is the "system internals" scan in Spybot:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\mplayer2.exe
Filename: "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe"
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\artgalry.chm
Filename: artgalry.chm
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\FntNames.db
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\FntNames.db
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Msvcrt10.dl l
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Msvcrt10.dll
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ cob_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\cob_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ cobo____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\cobo____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ com_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\com_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ coo_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\coo_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOB_____.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOB_____.PFB
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOB_____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOB_____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOBI____.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOBI____.PFB
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOBI____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOBI____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOI_____.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOI_____.PFB
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MOI_____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MOI_____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MORG____.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MORG____.PFB
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ MORG____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\MORG____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\COB_____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\COB_____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\COBO____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\COBO____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\COM_____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\COM_____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\COO_____.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\COO_____.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\SY______.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\SY______.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ pfm\ZD______.PFM
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\pfm\ZD______.PFM
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ SY______.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\SY______.PFB
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmb_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmb_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmb_____.pfm
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmb_____.pfm
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmbi____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmbi____.pfb
Data:


continued...

[Strygun]

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmbi____.pfm
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmbi____.pfm
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmi_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmi_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmi_____.pfm
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmi_____.pfm
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmr_____.pfb
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmr_____.pfb
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ wmr_____.pfm
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\wmr_____.pfm
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~ 1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_ISTMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ ZD______.PFB
Filename: C:\DOCUME~1\ANDREW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_ISTMP1.DIR\_IS TMP0.DIR\FileGrp\Reqrd\Base\ZD______.PFB
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\Rhapsody.exe
Filename: C:\PROGRA~1\HPRHAP~1\rhapsody.exe
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\_ispmres.dll
Filename: C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\_ispmres.dll
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\yourapp.Exe
Filename: C:\Program Files\HP\Non Driver CIO Components\yourapp.Exe
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\MOH.exe
Filename: C:\Program Files\NetWaiting\MOH.exe
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\ORUN32.EXE
Filename: C:\WINDOWS\ORUN32.EXE
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\cmmgr32.exe
Filename: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmmgr32.exe
Data:

Category: Missing shared DLL
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\SharedDlls\C:\WINDOWS\system32\msxml3a. dll
Filename: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msxml3a.dll
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\dao360.chm
Filename: dao360.chm
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\jetdef40.chm
Filename: jetdef40.chm
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\jetsql40.chm
Filename: jetsql40.chm
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\msjro.chm
Filename: msjro.chm
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Help \nmplace.hlp
Filename: nmplace.hlp
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\setup.exe
Filename: setup.exe
Data:

Category: Wrong app path
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\table30.exe
Filename: table30.exe
Data:

Category: Missing helpfile
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\HTML Help\Wireless_Assistant.chm
Filename: Wireless_Assistant.chm
Data:

[Lonehunter]

Well to me it looks like I really wish I knew what the hell I was talking about right now so I could seem semi intelligent.


:(

Shoulda went to college.

[Hamma]

It doesnt look good, run the repair :p

[Strygun]

Lol... where's Marsman when you need him? This is right up his alley...

[Hamma]

He's "around"

[Strygun]

hey folks, this is a bump.

I've noticed that the sound in videos that I play, both on the internet and on my computer, does NOT skip whatsoever. Does this mean that it's fixable, or do I have to send this laptop back to the makers?

[Peacemaker]

Stry, I usually get this on my Ipod. I think its shitty sound quality from music you get and ocasionaly it doesnt work right.

[Strygun]

Peace, I thought this at first, but it happens to EVERY sound file on my computer, including iTunes downloads, CD imports (both imported with iTunes and with CDex), and ANY other SOUND file that is played. I can play videos just fine with no skippage.

[Lartnev]

Just to satsify curiosity (because I get this with iTunes and I know you've been saying it happens in WMP10 too), try setting the process priority to "above normal" for iTunes or WMP to see if that helps at all.

[Strygun]

Lart, this didn't fix anything. Remember, this problem hasn't ALWAYS been there, so this wouldn't be the problem.

[Biohazzard56]

Could be audio codecs, you have any compilation codec packs installed?

[Lartnev]

Lart, this didn't fix anything. Remember, this problem hasn't ALWAYS been there, so this wouldn't be the problem.

It was a long shot :(

[Strygun]

Could be audio codecs, you have any compilation codec packs installed?
only DivX

[Rbstr]

wipe the thing clean of audio programs and then install only the players you use. Then use one of the codec packs out there to get all that stuff sorted.

[Strygun]

wipe the thing clean of audio programs and then install only the players you use. Then use one of the codec packs out there to get all that stuff sorted.
I'm not convinced that it's audio programs/codecs causing the problem. Surely there is a better way to pinpoint this issue...

[Rbstr]

What's your CPU?

EDIT: Honestly, all though in this slightly inebriated state, all I can think of it's a slow/broken CPU(drivers for CPU 0_o?!) something in the drivers, or somethign in the codecs.

[Hamma]

I'm with rob on this one I suspect some kind of codec issue