sound?

Sound is distorted scrachy & echoes.Music is much louder than voices? I have tried looking at my settings and everything seams right.Thought my cd drive might need cleaned but then noticed it does the same thing with downloads also.

Hi JaySee,

How long is it since you Cleaned out your Dust Bunnies?

Suggest you run this tool, here's how:

Windows running process lister
A very small program that simply lists the processes that Task Manager lists, including the full path name so you can see what program they are part of. You can easily copy and paste the list into a text file for before/after comparisons, or to email/forum when asking for computer help. You may be surprised at what is running on your computer! Some processes waste a lot of computer resources and make your computer sluggish.
Download ListProcesses for Windows.

Keep us informed of how you are progressing,

kind regards,

Here is my list? C:\Acer\eManager\anbmServ.exe C:\Documents and Settings\C J\Desktop\ListProcesses.exe C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgemc.exe C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgrsx.exe C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgtray.exe C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgwdsvc.exe C:\Program Files\Arcade\PCMService.exe C:\Program Files\AutoTyping IM\Autotyping.exe C:\Program Files\Launch Manager\QtZgAcer.EXE C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\aawservice.exe C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe C:\Program Files\REALTEK USB Wireless LAN Driver and Utility\RtWLan.exe C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe C:\Program Files\Windows Desktop Search\WindowsSearch.exe C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe C:\Program Files\acer\eRecovery\Monitor.exe C:\WINDOWS\AGRSMMSG.exe C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\Rundll32.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\SearchIndexer.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZONELABS\vsmon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\keyhook.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\sistray.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe \SystemRoot\System32\smss.exe

How did you progress with cleaning out the dust bunnies?

Now you have your list of processes starting at boot up, I suggest you go here and research them one by one to make sure they are all necessary. Please do not access any of the advertisements as they cost $$$$, just enter a process one by one and click search to find out what each one does.

Here is a full explanation of ctfmon.exe

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe

If you want to turn off ctfmon.exe I suggest you follow below:

• start
• settings
• control panel
• regional and Language option
• languages
• details
• advanced
• enable 'Turn off advanced text services'
• OK
• apply
• OK

Let us know how you are progressing, particularly with the dust bunny clean out.

Re your sound distortion, you may like to access your Device Manager to see if there are any yellow or red warning signs and report back for assistance if there are.

• My Computer
• Properties
• Hardware
• Device Manager

Best regards,

Hi JaySee, In addition to what tallin recommended to do, I would like to see a more detailed reply about what your problem exactly is, because the initial reply is kind of unclear and short. That makes it much harder for us to troubleshoot. Do you always have problems with the sound or only with a couple of programs? Do you use speakers or a headset? Have you tried different speakers or headsets to see if they are at fault? When did you start having this problem? After installing any new software/drivers/hardware or out of nothing? Those are just a couple of questions to get you going, please tell anything that could possibly be related and/or lead to a solution. Regards, John.

Hi Tallin . Well I found about half of them & turned of Ctfmon.exe.I found three to turn off but don't know how.Avgemc.exe, PCM Servoce.exe & sistray.exe. Is there a good site I can go to too find the the rest of them that will tell me what they actions they perform? Device Manager is not showing red or green. John B. I think the problem started out of nothing.I had been burning alot of cds at the time.I do not use any external speakers, just my laptop speakers & sometimes headphones.Music sounds fine most of the time but the vocals are distorted, distant, low, & echo.The over all volume level is not as high as it use to be either.I have tried other headsets & its the same.It happens with all programs.I hope this is of more help.Thank you guy's for helping me!

This may or may not be of help. On videos the voices follow after the lips move & have a twangy almost robotic echoe.Don't know how else to describe it. A few days ago when I was running scans I got a message that I was low on virtual memory and windows had to set up pageing files.My hard drive is 60gb & I have only filled 26.3 gb of that.It is partitioned in 2 halves c & d.512MB DDR I thought it may be a bad driver or need to update so I ran driver detective & it said I do.Realtek AC'97Audio.I down loaded them but my computer will not let me install them without the disk.What disk?I only have the disks that came with the computer that are for reformating.

Jaysee,

Is there a good site I can go to too find the the rest of them that will tell me what they actions they perform?

Yes, this link will help you with knowledge on Services running on your system.

Re your driver updates, I would have recommended this link (free), but also would have advised you not to be updating your drivers unless you are having problems with them, usually showing in Device Manager. Here are the FAQ for DriverMax.

Running only 512MB if RAM would certainly be struggling with Windows OS these days… Is it possible to update your RAM?

I cannot stress to you enough that cleaning out your dust bunnies is very important. This could be the main cause of your problem. Please confirm to me that you have attempted this.

I down loaded them but my computer will not let me install them without the disk.What disk?I only have the disks that came with the computer that are for reformating.

No idea what Driver Detective would mean by the above instruction. I do not use it, so do not know the software. I hope you have not paid your good money for the failed driver.

With reference to this thread, please ask before going ahead with installing software that:

• Costs money
• May not be needed

Have you restarted since the driver failed to install, if not please do so.

Keep us updated how you are progressing.

kind regards,

What brand and type is this laptop? I also suspect bad drivers. You can check the manufacturers site for updates.

Sorry I was not able to get back with you yesterday. Tallin, I was not able to find running procsesses on the link you gave me.I am new at all this.I did some searching and found a site www.what-is-exe.com.Here I found all the rest of them but 4.None that I can disable though except QtZgAcer.exe which I think I may need because it configures shortcut keys & sets the operating mode of WYLAN moduale & bluetooth.I have not had the chance yet to disable the first 3 from the post before last.After I find these last 4 I will set a restore point and clean out the dust bunnys.No I did not pay for Driver Detective.They offer a free scan then try to get you to buy there software to install the drivers.I searched for free drivers & as I told you could not install the ones I found. John B. my laptop is an Acer Aspire 3003LCi Thanks again for your help guy's! I can't figure out how to navigate the Acer site for some reason.

Hi JaySee,

I searched for free drivers & as I told you could not install the ones I found.

Did you find drivers when you used the DriverMax link I gave you?

Report back after cleaning out your dust bunnies please.

Here are links to your particular Laptop to choose from.

I was not able to find running procsesses on the link you gave me.I am new at all this.

Find the process you need to research click the alphabetical letter of it then search through what is offered. I am sure you will find an explanation for it.

Other volunteers may pass by to offer their ideas for you. I am sorry I am not of more help to you.

kind regards,

Hi JayCee. The Aspire 3003LCi is part of the Aspire 3000 series according to various reviews I found for it.

The drivers and manuals appear to be here:

http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_3000.html

There is no Aspire 3003LCi area on their web site that I could find.

You all have been a HUGE help! My sound is fixed. Tallin I had put my focus on the running procsesses & did not check the Driver Max link you gave me.I went there after you asked if I had & found that I needed 6 other driver updates besides the Realtek AC'97Audio driver.I was wondering though if it matters if a driver is not digitally signed? I have now found all of the running procsesses and know what they do but still only have 3 that I am sure I can disable.There are a few that I need to read more about & decide if I will disable them or not. I am thankfull to be learning about them.Thanks again !

Glad we were able to solve your problem.

I was wondering though if it matters if a driver is not digitally signed.

A lot of legitimate stuff is not digitally signed, so it should not really matter.

I have now found all of the running procsesses and know what they do but still only have 3 that I am sure I can disable.There are a few that I need to read more about & decide if I will disable them or not. I am thankfull to be learning about them.

You'd better keep a couple that could be disabled than stop a couple that should have been left alone. For some more tips to speed up your computer can be found here:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Help_My_comp…low_t74560.html

Hi JaySee,
Good work, you have done well.

There are a few that I need to read more about & decide if I will disable them or not. I am thankfull to be learning about them.Thanks again !

Take this slowly, be very careful and write down just what you disable so if on reboot the computer is not running to your liking, you can go back and enable.

Very pleased you have managed to fix that sound of yours, keep the sites we sent safely bookmarked so if you get into trouble again they are at hand for you to access quickly.

Best regards,