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All video and audio playback on laptop suddenly lagging?

Anonymous
2019-03-27T22:09:03+00:00

Sometimes I'll be listening to music or watching videos on my laptop when suddenly and completely randomly, all kinds of playback - video and audio - suddenly starts playing at half their usual speed and all audio has this dreadful static-y sound behind it. I would describe it as buzzing or crackling, or a metallic-sounding griding or crunching. This applies to all sounds my computer makes, from Youtube videos to offline videos to the alert sounds my computer makes. I even remember a time where I was using my laptop's camera and even my own self being shown on the screen was moving at half speed. The only way to fix this is to restart the computer. I've tried troubleshooting sounds, all it does is install the same (probably faulty) Realtek audio driver and the problem isn't fixed at all, it keeps coming back. This happens completely at random, sometimes I'm doing something with the computer, other (most) times I'm not even touching it and I just have it on as background noise while I'm doing something else.

One thing I've noticed is that whenever I restart the laptop after one of these episodes, I get the spinning white dots with "Please wait" under them as if it were updating or fixing something. But when I check for updates it says my PC is up to date.

What should I do? I wish I could attach audio or video files to better illustrate what I mean but it doesn't seem like there's an easy solution to all this.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-03-27T22:12:54+00:00

    Hi KATIEJARAD,

    I'm Stefano an Independent Advisor here to help you.
    I suggest you to follow this procedure:

    1. Type "cmd" in windows search bar
    2. Right click on "Command Prompt"
    3. Select "Run as Administrator"
    4. Type "sfc /scannow" without quote and press ENTER

    Then :

    1. Type "cmd" in windows search bar
    2. Right click on "Command Prompt"
    3. Select "Run as Administrator"
    4. Type "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth" without quote and press ENTER
    5. Type "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth" without quote and press ENTER
    6. Type "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" without quote and press ENTER

    Then:

    1. Open "File Explorer"
    2. Click on "This PC"
    3. Right click on "C:"
    4. Click on "Proprieties"
    5. Click on "Clean-up disk"
    6. Click on "Clean up system files"
    7. Select every option in the list, but not "Download"
    8. Click on "OK"

    Then:

    1. Press WINDOWS + X
    2. Click on "Device Manager"
    3. Click on "Audio, video and games controller "
    4. Right click on your audio card
    5. Click on "Uninstall device"
    6. Click on "Detects Hardware change" (monitor icon)

    Also:

    1. Press WINDOWS + X
    2. Click on "Device Manager"
    3. Click on "Video card"
    4. Right click on your video card
    5. Click on "Uninstall device"
    6. Click on "Detects Hardware change" (monitor icon)

    You can also perform a clean boot:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135...

    Please let me know if that fix your issue.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2019-03-27T22:14:50+00:00

    Hi Katie

    My name is Andre Da Costa; an Independent Consultant, Windows Insider MVP and Windows & Devices for IT MVP. I'm here to help you with your problem.

    Please try these steps for both Video and Audio

    VIDEO:

    First, try restarting your graphics driver:

    Press Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B

    If that does not work...

    Press Windows key + X

    Click Device Manager

    Expand Display adapters

    Right click the current display adapter

    Click Properties

    Click Driver tab

    Click Rollback driver if the option is available

    If not

    Right click the current display adapter

    Click Uninstall

    Check the box that says, "Delete the driver software for this device.”

    Exit Device Manager

    Restart

    Go to Start -> Settings -> Update & security, then Check for updates and install any available updates.

    You might need to update the display driver from the manufacturer of your computers website.

    If you have an nVidia, AMD ATI video card or Intel HD graphics installed, you can download the latest drivers from their website.

    First, determine what type of graphics you have installed.

    Press Windows key + X

    Click Device Manager

    Expand Display adapters

    Once you have determined the graphics driver, go the vendors website and search for the driver in the download section:

    Intel - Downloads for Graphics Drivers - Drivers & Software - Intel

    https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/80939/...

    nVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

    AMD ATI - Download Drivers - AMD Support

    http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

    Some of these sites offer autodetect options.

    AUDIO:

    What is the exact make and model?

    Open Start, type: system information

    Hit Enter

    Click System summary

    Look in the right pane

    Copy the system sku info into reply here.

    See example: https://imgur.com/qzektpA

    First, run the Playing audio troubleshoot - open Start > Settings > Update & security > Troubleshoot

    Scroll down, select Playing audio

    Click Run the troubleshooter

    When complete, restart your computer then check if audio is working again.

    Press Windows key + X

    Click Device Manager

    Expand Sound, video and game controllers

    Right click your audio adapter

    Click Properties

    Click the Driver tab

    Is there an option rollback?

    If so, click it.

    Also, check to make sure the audio driver is fully updated. This is often the problem when you upgrade to a new version of Windows 10. Sometimes reinstalling the latest available driver from the manufacturers website helps.

    Open Start, type: change sound card

    Hit Enter

    Select the Playback

    Right click your Speakers

    Click Set as Default Device if it isn't already

    Select your speakers

    Click Properties

    Click the Levels tab

    Use the slider to adjust level

    Other options:

    1. Play a youtube video with the soundcard speaker jack unplugged and let it play through the laptop's inbuilt speakers.
    2. While it is playing, plug in the audio jack and see if it starts playing.

    Which version of Windows 10 is currently installed? See how to verify:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wik...

    Which version and edition Windows did you originally upgrade from or was installed prior to your current version:

    Windows 10 - 1703, 1607, 1511, 1507 (build 10240)

    Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Windows 8.0 Core, Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8.0 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro

    Information in the above link is sourced from a trusted Microsoft MVP Blog.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2019-03-27T22:19:48+00:00

    Hi Katie

    My name is May here to help.

    Lets try to troubleshooting with this steps posted by Billion Debbarma on january 2016.

    Please let us know if it help you.

    Method 1.

    For the issue with sound. I would suggest you to run sound audio troubleshooter, it will automatically detect the problem and fix it. Follow the below method.

    Press Windows key + R and click on Control Panel.

    Click on View by: category and click on Small icon.

    Now click on troubleshooting and click on Hardware and Sound.

    Click on Playing Audio and Click on Next button.

    If the issue still persist, try the below method:

    Method 2.

    Step 1.

    I suggest you to uninstall the sound driver and check.

    Press Windows key + X and select Device manager.

    Now click on Audio input and outputs to expand, right click on the device and click on uninstall.

    Once you are done uninstalling the restart the computer. If should automatically installed the driver.

    If the still persist, try the below steps.

    Step 2.

    I suggest you to update the audio driver and check.

    Press Windows key + X and select Device manager.

    Now click on Audio input and outputs and right click on it and update the software.

    For the issue with display try the below method.

    Method 3.

    I recommend you to uninstall/reinstall the display adapter driver and check. Follow the below steps:

    Press Windows key + X and click on Device manager.

    Locate for display adapter and click on it to expand.

    Right click on the device and click on uninstall.

    Once you are done uninstalling the driver, restart the computer. It will automatically install the generic display adapter driver.

    If this doesn’t help to fix the issue. I suggest you to update the display adapter driver. Skip step3 from the above steps and right click on the device and click on update.

    Method 4.

    If the above method did not help to fix the issue, I would suggest you to go to the computer manufacturer website and download the latest display adapter driver. If the display driver is not available for Windows 10, try installing the available driver in compatibility mode and check.

    Right-click on the setup file of the driver and select Properties.

    Select Compatibility tab.

    Check Run this program in Compatibility mode.

    Let the driver install and then check the functionality.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-03-27T22:13:29+00:00

    Hi Katie, I'm Graeme, an independent adviser here to help.

    I'd firstly suggest that you try a clean boot, which may help your poor performance. It might be a background app or service interfering, so give this a try:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/929135...

    Then, try updating your graphics card drivers to the latest version. Depending on the brand of your graphics card, you can find the drivers here:

    AMD Radeon:

    https://www.amd.com/en/support

    NVIDIA GeForce:

    https://www.geforce.com/drivers

    Intel Graphics:

    https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/80939/...

    Once you've tried the above, reboot your PC and see if performance improves. If not, let me know how you go and I'll see what else we can try! Thanks!

    Note: Non-Microsoft websites are linked. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

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