Wierd noise whilst surfing interwebs

September 2, 2008 10:31 AM

Computer making strange noise as I surf. Am I invaded?

As of yesterday my computer makes this weird noise, sounds kinda like a DJ scratching a record, when I surf from one website to another.
I've run AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy and they come up with nothing. My firewall is intact.
I'm using Firefox, is it possible I accidentally turned something on or off, r does this mean my system is infected?

posted by mikoroshi to computers & internet (17 comments total)

That sounds more like a hardware problem. Does it happen when you use other software?
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 10:47 AM on September 2, 2008

Do you have sound effects assigned to your actions on your computer? It may be that the sound file got trashed and no longer sounds the way you expect. If not, have you tried moving your speakers farther away from your monitor? Sometimes they interfere with each other.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 10:49 AM on September 2, 2008

Are you in XP? Is it everytime you click a link? That sounds the Internet Explorer navigate sound that can sometimes get reset if you update IE.

I believe it's Start --> Control Panel --> Sounds and Audio Devices -->

Under sound schemes you can choose individual sounds. I believe it's on Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer for "start navigation" (although I'm on Apple right now so I can't check for sure). Once you find the sound you can switch it off.
posted by sharkfu at 10:58 AM on September 2, 2008

Is it like a chsh chsh sound? Could be the search dog, if you're using Windows and have a system search window open. I know that drove me nuts until I finally figured it out.
posted by yellowbinder at 10:58 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

One avenue you can explore pretty quickly:

Next time you're hearing the noises, try turning off/unplugging your speakers. (Or taking off your headphones.) You can at least find out for sure if these noises are coming over your sound hardware or if they're genuine hardware noises of some sort—and that'll help narrow down the scope of the problem.
posted by cortex at 10:59 AM on September 2, 2008

Is the sound coming through the sound card or do you mean the computer itself is making noises?
Does it happen with other web browsers?
Does it still happen if you change the sound scheme in Control Panel?
posted by malevolent at 10:59 AM on September 2, 2008

Does it sound like this? If so, it's a hardware failure.
posted by nomisxid at 11:06 AM on September 2, 2008

I tried adjusting the sounds in the control panel and that didn't work.
The sound is defiantly coming from the speakers, it isn't hardware.
I just checked and it doesn't
t happen when I surf with Explorer, only in Firefox, and only when I move from one web site to another.
posted by mikoroshi at 11:58 AM on September 2, 2008

I've noticed that some sound cards, particularly crappy AC97 onboard, will output random scratchy/clicky noises when navigating through Windows. Scrolling was particularly obnoxious, but a lot of things (clicking, alt-tabbing, etc) caused the problem. I noticed it more on headphones than speakers. Turning the system volume up and the speakers down (so the "real sound" rises above the noise) may help minimize it.
posted by Alterscape at 12:05 PM on September 2, 2008

I should also mention that this laptop is three years old and this has never happened before yesterday. And the sound is only happening with Firefox.
posted by mikoroshi at 12:06 PM on September 2, 2008

Definitely sounds like a problem with you hard drive. If I were you I would run a hardware diagnostic tool, open it up, clean everything with a can of air, including all connectors to and from the hard drive and close it and cross my fingers in that order. good luck.
posted by phllip.phillip at 12:15 PM on September 2, 2008

Next, try disabling any FF extensions you have, in case it's something like a popup blocker sound effect or Noscript.
posted by malevolent at 1:00 PM on September 2, 2008

So, when you mute your speakers, is the sound still there? You said this is a laptop, so do this... plug headphones into the laptop, which should automatically shut off the built-in speakers. Does the sound now play out of the headphones, or does it remain with the speakers which no longer play any sounds?


This will help you figure out if it is infact hardware or software. You seem pretty sure that it is coming from the speakers ... so I will assume you are sure it is NOT a hard drive making noises.

( If you are unsure, put your ear to the laptop while trying the headphone thing. Make sure the sounds are coming from headphones/speakers and not the body of the laptop. )

Let me know the results of the above test and I can help you further.
posted by Ryaske at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2008

P.s. even if the sound is coming from teh speakers.. it can still be hardware/software issue. You have to find out if it is a system generated sound, or not. If not- hardware problem. If so, software problem.
posted by Ryaske at 1:26 PM on September 2, 2008

P.P.S. .... record it!! If you can record it with the laptop in question, it is a software issue. If you can only record it with a microphone, it is hardware. In either case, record it and post so we can listen.


I've heard every sound a computer could possibly make .. so try me
posted by Ryaske at 1:31 PM on September 2, 2008

Fixed! Thanks, AskMe!
posted by mikoroshi at 2:38 PM on September 2, 2008

Don't leave us hanging! What was it?
posted by subbes at 3:51 PM on September 2, 2008