Comments on: Wierd noise whilst surfing interwebs

Question: Wierd noise whilst surfing interwebs

mikoroshi — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:31:11 -0800

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?

By: martinX's bellbottoms

martinX's bellbottoms — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:47:53 -0800

That sounds more like a hardware problem. Does it happen when you use other software?

By: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:49:32 -0800

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.

By: sharkfu

sharkfu — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:58:20 -0800

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.

By: yellowbinder

yellowbinder — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:58:45 -0800

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.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:59:24 -0800

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.

By: malevolent

malevolent — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:59:38 -0800

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?

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:06:11 -0800

Does it sound like this? If so, it's a hardware failure.

By: mikoroshi

mikoroshi — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:58:09 -0800

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.

By: Alterscape

Alterscape — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:05:17 -0800

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.

By: mikoroshi

mikoroshi — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:06:59 -0800

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.

By: phllip.phillip

phllip.phillip — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:15:03 -0800

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.

By: malevolent

malevolent — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:00:31 -0800

Next, try disabling any FF extensions you have, in case it's something like a popup blocker sound effect or Noscript.

By: Ryaske

Ryaske — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:25:24 -0800

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.

By: Ryaske

Ryaske — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:26:50 -0800

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.

By: Ryaske

Ryaske — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:31:20 -0800

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

By: mikoroshi

mikoroshi — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:38:14 -0800

Fixed! Thanks, AskMe!

By: subbes

subbes — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:51:49 -0800

Don't leave us hanging! What was it?