Windows Vista Volume dropping to zero by itself

[matthew28]

Hello,
I have a problem with the volume on my computer dropping down to zero (as shown on the speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner). When I click on the speaker icon the graphic equaliser is moving up and down but the slider has dropped down. I can listen to music (using iTunes) for a while and then the voume suddenly goes down. If I go straight to the volume slider and lift it up again as soon as I release it it drops again. Sometimes I can listen for quite awhile and other times it happens very quickly. I don't know whether it does it with the Windows Media player because all my music is in the Apple format (I forget the extension name) and I would have to rip it all again in to the Media Player. If anybody has any thoughts on why this is happening I would be very grateful. It is not a serious problem but it is incredibly annoying.
Thanks in advance,
Matthew

Dell XPS 420
OS Vista Home Premium 32 bit
CPU Intel Q6600 Quad Core Processor 2.40GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 8MB cache
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz [4x1024MB] Memory
Graphics Card 256MB ATI Radeon 2600XT
Monitor(s) Displays Dell E248WFP - 24'' Wide Flat Panel
Hard Drives 500GB Serial ATA non Raid (7200 Rpm)
Other Info Audio Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital capability, Dell AS501PA Sound Bar

 

[Jimbo22]

First run all your adware, spyware, malware software you have. Run your anti-virus software. Then do a disk defragment. Then reboot and check sound issue. If it still persists, check in device manager for any issues with sound driver. It will be near the bottom of the list. If there are any problems there it will show up as a yellow triangle w/exclamation point in it telling you there is a problem. Then update the driver in need be and reboot if it doesn't reboot itself. Try this and post back w/results.

 

[matthew28]

Hello Bassfisher6522,
Sorry for the delay in replying. Your suggestion didn't work but I did try a couple of other virus scanners and did come up with a virus so in the end I backed up my documents and reformatted and reinstate the harddrive back to how it left the factory. After reinstalling my programmes everything is now fine.
Thanks.

 

[Celestra]

Re-installing the device would fix any corrupted or broken files for Windows Media Player. Sometimes re-installing is the best fix....