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Virus affecting sound?

Anonymous
2017-02-04T13:05:13+00:00

A few months ago my Surface Book acquired a problem with the sound. Every time any sound plays, all I hear is what sounds like a sound clip of a failing hard disc drive - a squealing, mechanical sound. It also sounds like a blown speaker, which is what the Best Buy tech suggested it was. It disappears when I plug into the docking station - sound through those speakers is fine.

But something is fishy about that explanation. First, the sound doesn't vary in volume as I move the volume control up and down. Second, as I go through the sound clip menu and sample them, the sound plays for the same amount of time (about five seconds) no matter how short the actual clip is. On longer clips or MP3s the sound will persist as long as the clip is active. This suggests that every sound has been remapped to produce this particular sound clip.

I went through the whole Microsoft support routine, and finally did the full destructive reinstall of Win 10, but the problem either persisted through the reinstall or reoccurred, before I even restored a single file from my backups. Based on the hardware theory, I have asked for a warranty replacement of the computer, which is due in a few days. But I am afraid that somehow the new computer will get this as well. My questions:

  • Can a Surface Book be infected by a boot sector virus that would persist through a full reinstall? If so, is there a way to detect / remove it? All my Windows Defender scans are clean.
  • I noticed when I brought the computer up after the Win 10 reinstall, it pulled a bunch of my saved configuration data from my "account" somehow (specifically, my Edge configuration). Can that stored data be infected, and might it infect the new computer when I bring it up a few days hence?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-06T19:46:39+00:00

    A device shouldn't be affected by any virus or malware while reinstalling the operating system nor the stored data that you have brought back up. For cases like this, it's mostly the drivers that must be updated. But it seems that the output for the device has the one that has the issues since like what you said, there is no sound at all when you're using a headphone. Have you tried using a different headset/headphones to see if it's the same? We would suggest in bringing the device back to the store from where you have purchased it to have the device checked and if needed, replaced. As for your added question, there is no current virus/malware that can affect the circuitry for the sound output unless it's physically broken.

    Regards.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-05T21:26:14+00:00

    This issue happened right after an automatic Win software update in October, which may or may not be related. I went through the update process on the RealTek drivers twice by myself and once during the online Microsoft support call. I also rolled back the updates from that date, which changed nothing.

    BTW, not only did the speakers make that weird sound, but there was no sound at all through headphones. Since both use RealTek drivers, I  figured that was what was affected.

    Are drivers not reinstalled with a complete reload of Win 10? Every other file on my machine was deleted.

    I have downloaded the .msi version of the drivers that you linked and will try that out. Thanks.

    _____

    OK done. Rebooted and tested. No change.

    Can you please also answer my two questions in the original post?

    And a third question: Is there a known virus that can destroy the speakers or sound circuitry in the Surface Book?

    Thanks!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-02-07T03:10:39+00:00

    OK, thanks for the reassurance. The replacement computer is already on its way, and I wanted to make sure that it didn't get hosed the same way from any residual viral stuff.

    If what you say is true that no virus or any such can remain after a complete re-install, then the issue must be hardware-related despite the contra-indications. The Surface Book must have no rewritable BIOS, "boot sector" or similar area that can be infected outside of Windows - or at least, the infection must not be persistent. But such an infection would be shipped back to Microsoft with the old computer anyway.

    I will breathe easier about the new computer. And if the same thing happens with the new one, watch this space.

    Cheers!

    _____

    Postscript: New computer sound works fine. My worries were for nought.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-02-05T06:24:15+00:00

    Hi,

    For us to assist you properly. kindly provide the following information below:

    • From the time that you have purchased the device, have you checked if the drivers are up to date?

    Also, since the device is able to play music using a docking station, that would mean that there is nothing wrong with its output. It could probably be because of the drivers that the device needs to run properly specifically with the sound drivers. You can get the drivers through this link.

    Let us know how it goes.

    Regards.

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