Crackling/popping - constant, not just when watching videos

Question

;Crackling/popping - constant, not just when watching videos' My setup is a Dell Dimension 8400 with Media Center (WinXP), Intel Pentium 4, 3.4GHz, 3070Mb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 video card, and an Audigy 2 ZS sound card.
After never having any audio problems, almost 3 months ago I updated the Audigy 2 ZS driver (5.2.4.96) to the most recent available (2.8.00), and immediately crackling and popping began coming from the speakers.
Although nothing has solved the problem, here are some things I've tried:
1) updating to the beta driver (2.8.00)
2) installing the old driver (2.09.006) offered at the Creative site
3) installing an old driver (5.2.4.445) found online
4) reinstalling from the original CD that came with my computer
Because I've spent so many frustrating hours since the disastrous update trying many different fixes, I can't recall exactly what happened during the update, and didn't keep good notes. However, my contemporaneous notes from that day mention (without context, unfortunately) some files that may provide a clue to more knowledgeable techies as to what has gone wrong:
ctac32k.sys
haP72K.sys
ctdnlstr.dat
ctoss2k.sys
This problem has consumed a great deal of my time, and interfered with my profession (musician). At this point I'm very frustrated, and would greatly appreciate the help of this forum.
P.S. I've created this new thread (message) rather than add a post to the "Static noise from soundcards encountered with Nvidia dual SLI" thread, because: ) I don't *think* that my GeForce 6800 is a "dual SLI" and 2) my symptoms are different, i.e., crackling and popping not just when watching video files or playing mp3's, but constantly, from first starting the computer.

Answer 1

Hi @Clairceg
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome.Thank you for the detailed information very very helpful. I have looked into your issue about your HP Pavilion 15-n297sa Notebook and the popping sound or crackling noises. Here is a document on troubleshooting sound for the user profile that is experiencing the crackling.
Does this happen in the profile when they are listening to a CD?
What browser are you using? I would check to make sure the browser is up to date.
Hope this helps you.
Thanks.
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