Windows 7 Creative SoundBlaster XtremeMusic (Windows 7 64-Bit) Sound Issues (Static/Crackling)

Does anyone else have this same issue (with soundblaster cards)?


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sicmaster64

New Member
Hi. I had the 32-Bit version of Windows 7 installed last week with 2GB of RAM, and a few days ago decided to install the 64-Bit version and up my system to 4GB of RAM. Now, my sound card has sound issues, and did not with 32-Bit Windows 7 and the 2GB of RAM. I've tried all beta, non-beta (which DOES include a 64-Bit Windows 7 driver), and user-created drivers to solve this issue to no avail. I've also tried a "fix" that someone posted. I went into MSCONFIG and under the Boot tab>Advanced I changed my Max Memory to 3990mb instead of the 4GB. Well, for whatever reason, Windows 7 doesn't like this, and pushes it down to 2GB of RAM. My sound issue IS HOWEVER solved at this point, but I don't want to utilize only 2GB of RAM. How can I use the full 4GB of RAM and get my sound card to not make crackling noises and static constantly? How does the RAM even afect my sound?! That makes no sense to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much!!

P.S. Creative's Support will not even help me out because I purchased the product about 4 years ago...
 
You may have tried this already but when i first installed 7 I couldn't get a driver to work for my S/B although the windows update utility did find one that worked..
Also have you checked the RAM just to make sure it's ok? This app: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool is the best for testing RAM although please make sure you only test one stick at a time..
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but my RAM was just purchased last week. I did however check it just in case, but I see a lot of people are having this exact problem. I tried Windows Update and it's not showing any drivers/updates for my product...
 
What about the rest of your drivers like chipset or motherboard bios are they upto date?
 
Yea, I've updated all drivers on my computer. At this point I'm almost convinced the RAM thing is the only fix, and if so, Creative should give me a new card. lol Even though obviously they won't. I may have to buy a newer sound card (one which HOPEFULLY doesn't have this same problem) if I can't fix this within the week. I need sound! :(
 
I solved the problem. I completely uninstalled the drivers and restarted my computer. For whatever reason, this didn't happen before, but Windows installed its own drivers for it, and now it works perfectly. Now I just need to download Creative's Audio Panel and some other miscellaneous programs to make adjusting the settings easier and whatnot, but it's working great now! I never would have guessed that the built in Windows drivers would work better (or in this case at all). I guess I didn't even try the sound card until I installed some sort of "Creative" driver... Maybe this is the solution until Creative gets to work and finds a "real" fix.
 
I had the same problem fixed w/your suggestion!

I had the same problem of static. i have 4 gig ram, Windows 7, and Logitech z5500 5.1 speakers. I did endless reinstalls of windows 7, reinstalls of windows drivers. i even contacted Logitech and had my speakers replaced. I never thought to use the drivers from windows update, even deactivated the notification. Ive had this problem for months since i used windows 7 beta. When I read your post I uninstalled my sb driver, reactivated windows update for sound driver, installed it and poof static problem gone.

Wow.

Thanx!:eek:
 
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