audio/video stuttering problem in xp

[sketchy1]

whenever i try to play any video or audio files, in any program (vlc, windows media player, winamp), i get stuttering issues. roughly once ever 4-5 minutes a video file will freeze & the audio will make a skipping noise, then resume like everything is normal. same for audio files. also, my mouse will occasionally respond very slow to movement.

i am running a pentium d 820 on an asus p5vdc-x w/ 2 gig of ram. i'm running windows xp professional sp2 w/ all the latest updates and drivers. my video card is a geforce 7300 gs, and i also have a linksys wireless n pci adapter if that matters. i have a 500 watt psu, and all ide drives.

here is my hijack this output file:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.0 (BETA)
Scan saved at 10:01:29 PM, on 10/9/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\APLicensing.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Common\Update\1.0.69.0\GoogleUpdate.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware 2007\aawservice.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\dllhost.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\mmc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\DfrgNtfs.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\mmc.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Jon Eaton\Desktop\HiJackThis_v2.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = about:blank
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: VideoRaptorIePlugin Class - {90C8E8F8-A7C9-41E4-92E4-C679AE6FB78D} - C:\Program Files\Videoraptor\VideoRaptorIePlugin.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Gears Helper - {E0FEFE40-FBF9-42AE-BA58-794CA7E3FB53} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Gears\Internet Explorer\0.1.54.0\gears.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [High Definition Audio Property Page Shortcut] HDAShCut.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Launch LCDMon] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\LCD Manager\lcdmon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Launch LGDCore] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Logitech\G-series Software\LGDCore.exe" /SHOWHIDE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTHelper] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTxfiHlp] CTXFIHLP.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_02\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {09C04DA7-5B76-4EBC-BBEE-B25EAC5965F5} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Gears\Internet Explorer\0.1.54.0\gears.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: &Google Gears Settings - {09C04DA7-5B76-4EBC-BBEE-B25EAC5965F5} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Gears\Internet Explorer\0.1.54.0\gears.dll
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1163742487843
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Browseui preloader - {438755C2-A8BA-11D1-B96B-00A0C90312E1} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\browseui.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Component Categories cache daemon - {8C7461EF-2B13-11d2-BE35-3078302C2030} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\browseui.dll
O23 - Service: Ad-Aware 2007 Service (aawservice) - Lavasoft AB - C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware 2007\aawservice.exe
O23 - Service: Apple Mobile Device - Apple, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Pack Licensing Service - Creative Labs - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\APLicensing.exe
O23 - Service: Google Update Service (gupdate) - Google Inc. - C:\Program Files\Google\Common\Update\1.0.69.0\GoogleUpdate.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\1050\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: SiSoftware Database Agent Service (SandraDataSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Professional Home XI.SP1a\Win32\RpcDataSrv.exe
O23 - Service: SiSoftware Sandra Agent Service (SandraTheSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Professional Home XI.SP1a\RpcSandraSrv.exe

--
End of file - 5815 bytes

please let me know what you guys/gals recommend as far as troubleshooting this problem. it's been going on a long time but i have been far too busy/lazy to fix it and i can't fix it with any of my own ideas.

[sketchy1]

oh one more thing. i am using whatever onboard audio hardware the asus board has. i did at one time have an audigy in there, but removed it and switched to the onboard audio to see if that fixed the problem, which it has persisted even w/ the onboard audio.

[Suspishio]

Stuttering stuff is nearly always due to CPU activity, often antivirus. You'd need to report from Task Manager what the CPU loading is pon the various listed processes whilst all this stuttering is happening.

[sketchy1]

whenever i shut down everything to the bare minimum the issue still arises.

[Suspishio]

Yeah - but what does Task manager report?

[sketchy1]

is there a way to get a log of what it shows? i have monitored task manager and the cpu usage, and there aren't really any huge spikes. maybe if i could show a detailed log of what it says i could find out more accurately.

[Suspishio]

You go to Task Manager/Processes.

Click at the top of CPU column twice.

The processes that are using the CPU are listed in descending order of consumption.

I'm asking you to list the top three, say.

[sketchy1]

system idle process - 97%
firefox 2%
taskmgr 1%

[Suspishio]

I should have said - watch the task Manager pane and note what's up in the top three when the stuttering happens evry 4 or 5 minutes.

Let's say it's every 5 minutes. What have you got set to happen at that interval? Mail poll? And does AV kick in to scan incoming mail? Is it every 5 mins?

You can see where I'm heading.

Oh - I forghot to say - looking at your HJT file, try stopping DFRGNTFS and see if the problem goes away. I believe that comes in periodically.

[sketchy1]

Oh - I forghot to say - looking at your HJT file, try stopping DFRGNTFS and see if the problem goes away. I believe that comes in periodically.

please instruct a semi-intelligent dumb computer user as to how to do this. i don't know what this process is or where i can disable it (besides just killing the process).

[Suspishio]

OK - I've looked into DFRGNTFS. That only shows in Task manager if you are defragmenting your drive. Presumably it's not showing now.

When this happens, what are the top three process CPU usages in Task Manager? If it is CPU interruption, and if you're quick looking at this, it'll be the best clue to what's going on.

What about AppleMobileDeviceService.exe or iPodService.exe? Is that set to have a look round every 5 minutes?

You can disable it by doing Start/Run/services.msc

TYhen scroll to Apple Mobile Device & hit the Stop service. Then see what happens every 5 minutes. if that does the trick, we can work out later what to do with this service that presumably you'd like to keep going.

[sketchy1]

all i have open is vlc media player and any background apps that were previously in my hijack this log (minus the defrag, which i obv don't run all day or anything). when i open task manager the top 3 processes are system idle process, vlc media player (using anywhere from 4-12% of the processor power, but it does not jump during the skips).

another thing i thought i would note. i have a program called tunebite, which will take any media file that is DRM protected and it will play the file, then save it as an unprotected file. so when i download napster tracks, i convert them in tunebite for my ipod. if i close all background apps and every other app, and run tunebite alone, i can record tracks just fine. they never skip. i did this with probably 3,000 protected music files and have mp3's that are all perfect--except unless my roommate happened to use my computer while it was recording. if he jumped on and was browsing the web or whatever, those tracks that recorded during his session were skipping like my computer skips when it plays them. however, like i said, if it was recording with no other input, the files were fine.

this isn't exactly the same w/ vlc player (or whatever u want to load media files in), because i can have the same programs running and play media files in vlc, and they still skip regardless of the background apps and other apps running.

[Suspishio]

It's the mouse thing in your first post that tells me that there's something interrupting your CPU every few minutes.

According to your last post whenever this happens, no additional program appears in the Tsk Manager top three CPU usages. You've also said in an earlier post that no CPU spikes of that frequency can be seen in the performance logs. Frankly, this has got me stumped.

Have you measured the exact periodicity? If it is always the same, then we can have a look at the settings of everything in your HJT list.

[sketchy1]

i take back the no spikes in the performance tab. i was speaking of the processes tab. on the performance tab for CPU usage history, there are large spikes in the spots that apparently are the times when it's skipping and so forth.

however, there are no processes, other than the occasional 1 or 2% usage by explorer or taskmgr, that are popping up in the processes tab when it skips.

[Suspishio]

This likely means that CPU services are being called from elsewhere, like the graphics card, although I can't think of what is actually happening.

So we have to leave the PC quiet (no audio/video); have the graphs visible; measure the exact periodicity so as to form a view of its significance or otherwise; and listen to the disks or whatever to see if there is anything else consistently happening; plus look at the screen to see if there's a jolt.

This is the sort of thing then that an expert needs to have in front of his/her eyes!