unwanted program sound

[Richard G. Gould]

Can anyone identify a sound that is heard every single time I open XP Home?
It sounds like the "audio equivalent" of the Nike "Swoosh" trademark
followed by a "Ptui" sound like someone spitting out a watermellon seed. I
suspect that the sound was planted by some program sent to me over the
Internet that has been added to my computer without my request, knowledge or
consent. It does not occur on another computerof mine connected to the same
home, wireless network.
Thanks for any information.
Rick

 

[Claymore]

Can anyone identify a sound that is heard every single time I open XP Home?
It sounds like the "audio equivalent" of the Nike "Swoosh" trademark
followed by a "Ptui" sound like someone spitting out a watermellon seed. I
suspect that the sound was planted by some program sent to me over the
Internet that has been added to my computer without my request, knowledge or
consent. It does not occur on another computerof mine connected to the same
home, wireless network.
Thanks for any information.
Rick

Hello Rick,

Control Panel => Sounds and Audio Devices => Sounds tab => Start
Windows (in the list box).
Try changing the sound to something else (or <none>).
If it doesn't work, or the wacky sound comes back, you may be looking
at malware.

 

[Richard G. Gould]

Thank you, Claymore,

Unfortunately, I've already tried all the sounds and none of them are the
annoying one I'm trying to delete. But I have to correct one piece of
information in my original posting: The sound comes on only when I open
Internet Explorer, not XP Home. And I can't find anything in C Disc,
Program files, "Internet Explorer" folder that looks like an audio (wav?)
file. Does this help your diagnosis?

Thanks again, Rick

Rick

 

[Ricky]

The sound could also be caused by a popup blocker or similiar program.

 

[Swifty]

Unfortunately, I've already tried all the sounds and none of them are the

annoying one I'm trying to delete.

I'd search the system for all *.wav files, then play them one at a time
until I (hopefully) found the one in question. Warning: You'll drive
everyone in earshot absolutely crazy. My wife came close to killing me
the last time I did this.
If you don't find the matching WAV file, then it's beginning to sound
suspicious (no pun intended).

 

[Richard G. Gould]

Thank you, Steve -- and Claymore and Ricky who responded to my post -- for
this suggestion. I did a search for .wav files on my computer and found 717
of them !! including "roar," "attack," "growl" and five or six variations of
"die." I went through many of them and none came close to my "swoosh-ptui."
I'll keep at it, but since it's a new sound (a few weeks?) I suspect some
kind of malware that's been planted on my computer. I've run SpyBot and
deleted a few "double-clicks" and a "hit" but that sound is still there.

Rick