Windows 7 Intermittent Speaker Crackling Issues on HP Laptop: Possible Solutions Needed

[BoneDry]

I'm running Win 7 (upgraded from Vista), 32-bit, and my speakers are Conexant High Definition SmartAudio 221 on an HP laptop.
My speakers have been cracking/popping whenever I play much of anything (YouTube to Netflix to DVDs to media files), and they crackle through the laptop's speakers, through external speakers, and through headphones.
What I don't understand is that it seems that when I'm on campus, away from home, there is no crackling issue, but at home any media file will begin doing it intermittenly from the moment I press play. It does it more often with music, but it will still affect movies.

When I updated the driver about a month ago, the problem went away, but in the last few weeks it's been doing it again. Messing with the sample rate (CD, DVD, Studio quality) doesn't change anything. Running on high performance doesn't change anything.
Googling hasn't given me a fix, so I figured I'd ask in the hope that someone may have an answer.

 

[Saltgrass]

You have not explained the difference in your situation as to whether you are at home or at school. Is the internet connection different, the media different, or what?

 

[BoneDry]

Well, I'm connected to a different wireless internet, but the media I'm playing is the same.

 

[Saltgrass]

So, is the media dependent on the internet connection, or on your hard drive?

 

[BoneDry]

Just media. Doesn't matter if it's off YouTube, off a DVD, off an mp3 in my music files, or off a CD. They all crackle. Intermittenly.

 

[Saltgrass]

I suppose I am a little confused, but if it crackles no matter what, perhaps you need to update the driver for your audio device. Have you downloaded any codecs?

If it is something coming over a network connection, perhaps you need to update the driver for your network adapter, or update your entire internet connection.

There a many posts concerning audio crackling on the net.

 

[BoneDry]

I did update the driver, and it can't be my internet because the files I play aren't always dependent on an internet connection. As I said, even DVDs are affected. It happens even when I'm not connected to the internet.

 

[Saltgrass]

Well, once again I am confused. You stated on campus the situation changed. Now you say it does not make a difference.

There are many posts on the internet about crackling audio. Perhaps you need to download and install a driver for older types of audio.