PC Tips for Vista SP2 Sound Problems

Microsoft is making it easy for users running Windows Vista Service Pack 2, but also SP1, to resolve sound problems affecting the operating system after the deployment of a service pack. In this manner, the Redmond company is acknowledging that Vista users can run into issues related to sound once they upgrade their platform either to SP1 or to SP2. Fortunately enough, the software giant provides users with an automated solution for eventual sound problems via KB948481. Microsoft is essentially providing a Fix It button and associated solution that will help users troubleshoot any sound issues introduced with the installation of a new service pack.

“After you install a Windows Vista service pack, you may experience one or more of the following problems with sound: no sound is produced when you play audio files or run programs that have an audio component. The speaker symbol next to the clock in the notification area may display the following message: No Audio Output Device is installed. The Sound Controller in Device Manager displays a yellow exclamation point. The sound quality changes. For example, if you previously had surround sound, you may now have stereo sound,” Microsoft explained.

KB948481 also describes a range of steps designed to let do-it-yourselfers manually troubleshoot and resolve any sound problems. At the same time, the software giant is also providing users with a list of audio drivers and devices that fail to play nice with Vista SP2. The Redmond company is pointing to KB948481 as a resource for beginners, and to KB971220 as a destination for more advanced users.

The company explained that the installation of Vista SP2 was synonymous with the updating of some system files and device drivers. A newer service pack can contain an older device driver, which, once deployed, can cause sound problems. Below you will be able to find a list provided by Microsoft with the audio drivers that have been identified as causing problems with Vista SP2.

Realtek AC’97
For x86-based computers: Alcxwdm.sys – version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier.
For x64-based computers: Alcwdm64.sys – version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier.

IDT/SigmaTel
For x86-based computers: Sthda.cat – published 12/17/07 or earlier.
For x64-based computers: Sthda64.cat – published 12/17/07 or earlier.

IDT/SigmaTel
For x86-based computers: Stwrt.cat – published 12/17/07 or earlier.
For x64-based computers: Stwrt64.cat – published 12/17/07 or earlier Exceptions for IDT/SigmaTel drivers were made on certain models of Dell, HP, and Sony computers because these drivers were updated to address this issue before the 12/17/07 publish date.

Creative Audigy
For x86-based and x64-based computers: P17.sys – versions earlier than 5.12.1.2004.

Conexant HD Audio
For x86-based computers: Chdart.sys – version 4.32.0.0 or earlier.
For x64-based computers: Chdart64.sys – version 4.32.0.0 or earlier.

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PC Tips for Vista SP2 HD Audio Controller

With the advent of Windows Vista, Microsoft praised the boost in energy consumption efficiency in comparison with Windows XP. Still, there are exceptions to every rule. And while Vista indeed uses less energy over XP, users of the operating system can still experience excessive power use. One such example involves Vista SP2 and earlier during sleep or hibernation, and the HD audio controller, the Redmond-based company explained. The software giant has noted that there are two scenarios in which Vista SP2 sucks more power than it should.

“If you put the computer to sleep or into hibernation when it is running on AC power, the high definition (HD) audio controller continues to use power. Additionally, even after the computer transitions to DC power while the computer is asleep or in hibernation, the HD audio controller still uses power. This behavior persists even though you disable the ‘Allow this device to wake the computer’ option in the HD audio controller properties,” Microsoft explained.

In addition, the company has revealed that there is also an issue associated with the Wake on Ring properties not responding to the configuration introduced by users. “After you disable the ‘Allow this device to wake the computer’ option in the HD audio controller properties, the Wake on Ring feature still wakes the computer from sleep or hibernation,” Microsoft stated.

A hotfix is currently being offered specifically to customers affected by this issue, the company underlined. Users that have experienced problems with high levels of power consumption because of the HD audio controller running Windows Vista SP1 or SP2 need to contact Microsoft and get the hotfix.

“If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix,” the software giant added.

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If you have more than one operating system installed on your PC for example, you may have both Windows Vista and Windows 7 beta installed – your computer displays a menu asking you which operating system you want to load. If you don’t select an operating system within 30 seconds, it automatically loads your default operating system.

You can cut the amount of time your computer waits for your input before loading Windows Vista by going back to Msconfig and selecting the Boot tab. Where it says Timeout, change the number to a lower setting, but give yourself enough time to actually make your choice. If you only have Windows Vista installed on your machine, you don’t need to complete this step.

Fix notifications

Windows Vista is great at letting you know if there’s a problem with your computer. Your antivirus program should also alert you to potential problems, such as when a virus has been found or if you haven’t downloaded and installed the latest update for the software.

These notifications usually pop up from the notification area when you boot into Windows Vista, and on a computer that’s already struggling, the appearance of such messages could slow down the start-up time even further. You can save a few seconds by making sure that you always read all the notifications and subsequently follow their recommendations to fix the problems.

Not only will this stop the notification from popping up on your screen again, but it will probably also help your computer in other ways.

Change the boot order

When your PC is turned on it searches all its drives, such as hard drives and DVD drives, for boot files to load Windows Vista. These files are always on your primary hard drive, but your PC may search your DVD drives, floppy drives and other places before searching the correct hard drive, and this can add seconds to your startup.

To save time you can change the order that your computer searches your drives, making sure that the drive that Windows Vista is installed on is searched first. To do this you need to enter your computer’s BIOS, which is accessed when your computer is first turned on, before Windows Vista starts.

The method of accessing the BIOS varies from computer to computer – you need to either hold down Delete or sometimes F12. Once inside the BIOS you should see a menu option called something like Advanced BIOS Features. If you have more than one hard drive in your computer, select Hard Disk Boot Priority and select the hard drive that holds Windows Vista.

There should also be a menu option called something like Boot Priority. Select this, and then make sure that Hard Disk is first, followed by CDROM. There may also be an option called Quick Power On Self Test. Select this and make sure it’s enabled. When your PC is first turned on, it runs a number of tests to make sure everything is running properly. Some of these tests are more important than others, and by enabling Quick Power On Self Test your PC skips some of the less important tests, which speeds up your boot times.

Finally, there may be an option called Boot Up Floppy Seek. If you have that option in the BIOS, select it and then disable it. This is a test your computer runs on your floppy disk drive. These are an old form of media, and your PC either won’t have one, or you’ll hardly ever use it, so testing it is unnecessary.

Once you’ve finished in the BIOS choose Save and then Exit. Your computer’s BIOS might be slightly different, so don’t panic if the menus are laid out or named differently to how we’ve said. If in doubt, check the BIOS manual that came with your computer, or on the internet.

Tweak the BIOS to cut start-up time

1 MAIN MENU The main menu of your BIOS should look something like this. Although there are lots of intimidating-sounding options to choose from in this menu, you need only concern yourself with Advanced BIOS Features.

2. SELECTING THE BOOT DEVICE To speed up your computer’s startup, make sure that your first boot device is Hard Disk. Make sure you set your Second Boot Device to CDROM, in case you need to boot from the Windows Vista DVD.

3. SAVE AND EXIT Once you’ve made the changes you want, press Esc to exit the BIOS. You’ll be asked if you want to save your changes. Press Y to save, or N to exit without saving.

Result: Changing settings in the BIOS made the computer load up Windows Vista quicker than before.

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PC Tips for making Windows Vista boot faster

The time it takes for your computer to start up and run has been massively improved under Windows Vista. One of the reasons older versions of Windows, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98, took so long to boot up was because those versions of Windows were running on top of another operating system MSDOS.

With Windows Vista this is no longer the case, so start-up times are a lot faster. If you have a brand new computer or a fresh installation of Windows Vista, it will take no time at all for your PC to start up, so you can begin using your favourite programs at once. Unfortunately, after a while, with the more programs you install and the more files you have on your PC, you may begin to notice that your computer takes longer and longer to start up. Before you know it, you’ll be able to get up, make a cup of tea and drink it while waiting for Windows Vista to load. When things get this bad, you know you have to do something about it.

We recently asked visitors to the pctipsbox.com website how long it took for their PCs to start. The results varied from less than a minute to over ten!

There are plenty of factors that could make your PC startup grind to a halt, so there are plenty of tweaks to try to get your PC starting up in a flash. It’s all very well listing these tweaks, but do they work?

We have a PC at home packed with so much stuff that it takes an age to load Windows Vista, so we decided to test the tweaks to find out how much time we could save.

First things first – Start-up slow-down

We knew that our PC was slow to start, but when we timed it and saw that it took nearly six and a half minutes from the moment we pressed the on button to when the computer had loaded all the start-up programs and was actually usable, we knew that something needed to be done.

Our first port of call was to check out the Startup folder by going to Start > All Programs > Startup. The Startup folder can be a really useful feature of Windows Vista because you can place shortcuts to your favourite programs in there and they will load up when Windows Vista starts.

The problem is, if there are too many programs in there, it will slow down your computer’s startup as your computer loads them all. Deleting the shortcuts from this folder (don’t worry, it won’t delete the actual programs) will certainly help speed things up. Not all programs that load themselves when your computer starts appear in the Startup folder, however.

Take a look at the Notification area of your Taskbar, which is on the bottom right-hand corner of your desktop next to the clock, to see if there are a lot of icons there. Most of these icons are for programs that run in background, and with all of them starting up when you turn on your computer, it will definitely slow it down.

Many of these programs can be safely prevented from starting up automatically, so you only load them as and when you need to. Most of the time you can right-click the icon and either open the program or go straight to the program’s options or preferences, and from there clear a box that says something like ‘Run this program when Windows starts’.

If there are any programs that you don’t need any more at all, go ahead and uninstall them to get an extra speed boost.

Result: After deleting four shortcuts from the Startup folder and cutting down the Notification icons from a massive 19 down to seven, we saw a huge improvement in the computer’s start-up speed.

Going in deeper

Not all programs give the option to prevent them from automatically starting up. To disable more stubborn programs, we went in to the powerful Msconfig utility. Before using this you should create a Restore point so you can revert your PC back to its former settings should anything go wrong.

Click Start and type msconfig. Click the Startup tab and you’ll see a list of programs, the name of the manufacturer of each program, and the program’s path (where it’s kept on your hard drive). Using all this information you can tell whether these programs are essential to making your PC run properly.

As a general rule, don’t disable any programs from Microsoft because these are usually vital for Windows Vista. Any drivers or programs related to your graphics card and other hardware should be left alone as well. Once you’ve disabled the programs you want, exit Msconfig and restart your PC.

If there are any problems or error messages, make a note and go back into Msconfig and check the boxes of the problem programs. You can also stop some services running on startup. Only stop them if you’re sure that you don’t need them. Again, no Microsoft services should be turned off.

If there are any services you want to stop, it’s a good idea to search for the service on the internet to make sure it’s okay to do so. Once again, if there are any problems, open Msconfig again and restart the services.

Use Msconfig to disable more programs at startup

1. LAUNCH MSCONFIG Msconfig is a powerful application that’s usually only used by advanced computer users. This is why it doesn’t have a snazzy name, and why you won’t find it in the Start Menu. To launch it click Start and type msconfig into the search box.

2. TICK THE BOXES Click the Startup tab and then in the Startup Item column clear the boxes of the programs you wish to prevent from loading on startup. Be careful which programs you deselect, however…

3. RESTART YOUR PC For these changes to take effect you’ll need to restart your PC. Make sure you have saved all your work, and then click Restart. This is a good opportunity to examine the improvements that your changes have made so far.

Result: We found a number of programs that didn’t need to load on startup, so we unchecked them. We also found a couple of services that ran on startup that were used by old programs we had long ago uninstalled, so we safely stopped them.

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The borders around system windows, such as dialog boxes and the Control Panel, are transparent in Windows Vista’s Aero interface. If you’d like, you can make those transparent borders larger or smaller:

1. Right-click the Desktop and select Personalize.
2. Click Windows Color and Appearance.
3. Click “Open classic appearance properties” for more color options.
4. From the dialog box that appears, make sure that Windows Aero is selected as the color scheme. Click the Advanced button on the right side of the dialog box.
5. Select “Border Padding” in the Item drop-down box. To change the size of the border, type a new size for the border. (The default is 4.) Click OK, then OK again. The sizes of the borders will now change.

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PC Tips for Adding elevated Command Prompt for Vista

Add an elevated Command Prompt Windows power users know that a command prompt (Cmd.exe) is the fastest way to many tasks–much faster than digging through menus and tabbed dialog boxes. In Windows Vista, this is more true than ever, thanks to User Account Control. To get maximum mileage out of the command prompt, add a shortcut to the Start menu and configure it to run as an Administrator. Here’s how:

1. Click Start and type cmd in the Search box. This should produce a list consisting of one entry: the shortcut to the Windows Command Processor, cmd.
2. Right-click the cmd shortcut and choose Pin to Start Menu.
3. Click Start again. Right-click the Command Prompt shortcut you just added to the Start menu and choose Properties.
4. Click the Advanced button and click to select the Run as administrator checkbox.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

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