Audio Files Developing "Scratches"

[Avatar]

This is very weird:

Several audio files on one machine seems to have developed "scratches". We
noticed scratchy audio when the Windows Start and Windows Shut Down sounds
play. First it was suspected to be a loose audio connection. This was not
the case.

When we get into Windows\Media folder and play the files directly they sound
scratchy! We even copied these and other "scratchy" files we found on to a
CD and played them on another computer as well as a CD player. They sound
scratchy there too! Even some downloaded (legally!) songs seem to have
developed these scratches. Luckily we have external back-ups of not only
just the system but every file on this computer.

How "scratches" got on to existing audio files is beyond me. It seems
obvious something is *damaging* these files just by playing them. But what?
This XP Pro SP2 (fully updated and malware/virus-free) PC runs fine
otherwise. All devices and drivers are up-to-date and working perfectly.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated with thanks.

Avatar

 

[Avatar]

Thanks for reading this post. The problem has been resolved. It turned out
that a "codec-pack" was installed recently (I was totally unaware of this
earlier). Uninstalling it removed the problem. The user seemed to have
downloaded this from a website that popped up a prompt to install a plug-in
so the site can be "viewed properly". Unfortunately the specifics cannot be
recalled except that the pop-up appeared to be a real system message. IE
pop-up blocker somehow let this go by. Somewhat mysterious about the whole
thing but, as it happens, I am not in a position to delve further.

Why the "scratching" occurred at all remain unexplained. To make sure, the
system was restored with an image (made before the codec install). The
damaged media files were restored from the external drives used for this
purpose. The security settings for IE were also modified thereafter so that
such software installs don't happen again.

Regards and thanks again.

Avatar

 

[RA]

Thank you for posting the resolution.

Thanks for reading this post. The problem has been resolved. It
turned out that a "codec-pack" was installed recently (I was totally
unaware of this earlier). Uninstalling it removed the problem. The
user seemed to have downloaded this from a website that popped up a
prompt to install a plug-in so the site can be "viewed properly".
Unfortunately the specifics cannot be recalled except that the pop-up
appeared to be a real system message. IE pop-up blocker somehow let
this go by. Somewhat mysterious about the whole thing but, as it
happens, I am not in a position to delve further.
Why the "scratching" occurred at all remain unexplained. To make
sure, the system was restored with an image (made before the codec
install). The damaged media files were restored from the external
drives used for this purpose. The security settings for IE were also
modified thereafter so that such software installs don't happen again.

Regards and thanks again.

Avatar

 

[Manu]

Welcome. The whole thing was so weird I had to post it! I still have the
nagging feeling that the user (owner, actually) of that PC did not tell me
everything.

Avatar