Strange glitch noises when watching videos, listening to music for Dell Inspiron 1545

Try uninstalling Dell Support Center and see if you get any improvement.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1545 running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with the exact same problem. It started recently...I would say within the last week. Whenever I listen to audio or watch video, an annoying buzzing sound occurs intermittently. It occurs when I play music CD's bought from a store, so it is not just a problem with streaming content. I've also tried virus scan and system cleanup. It hasn't helped. I even ran a diagnostic test of my audio system through Microsoft and no problems were found. I noticed another user with a screen name ThePine reporting the same problem with their Dell Inspiron 1545 in the Dell forums yesterday too. I find it curious that three of us are having the exact same issue with the exact same laptop recently. There was  suggestion to remove Dell Support Center, but I don't even have that installed so that couldn't be the problem. I really hope that I don't have to purchase another laptop because of this problem, because it certainly will not be a Dell. Let me know if you find the solution and I will do the same. Good luck.

I am experiencing the same issues here, Inspiron 1545, It will skip, buzz kind of while playing music on my laptop, it does it while watching YouTube Video's too. Almost like it is trying to skip, Like the old record players use too. Mine started last week, so I do a complete System Restore from Dell DataSafe, and No 3 party software installed, it started it immediately while playing a sample video on the hard drive.

This is driving me crazy, I love to listen to my music while I surf, play flash games, etc. Over 2 gigs of music stored on my hard drive, and it is useless while this problem exists. I sure could use some help too. Not happy at all with this...

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the solution after days of trying. I uninstalled some Windows Updates from last week, but that didn't help either. I've tried virus scans, system cleanups, uninstalling and reinstalling the audio driver, etc. At first, I thought this was just an audio problem, but I think it may go a bit deeper. I notice when watching videos, such as YouTube, that when the grinding/skipping sound occurs, the video also freezes. It would seem to me that if it were just an audio issue, the video would continue to play with no interruptions. I'm no techie by any stretch of the imagination, so I could be way off on that. My brother-in-law, who works with computers quite a bit, suggested I might have to do a factory system restore. I'm trying to avoid that route if possible, especially since I am very skeptical that it would even work and that if it did, it probably wouldn't last long. This is very odd. I haven't installed any new software recently nor does my computer have any viruses. The only change was the Windows Updates from last week, but obviously, that doesn't seem to be the issue either. This situation is getting very frustrating, as I know it is for you too.

I will continue to look into it as well and reply with anything I find.

Hawk1357,

I have been a A+ Technician for 22+ Yrs., and this has me baffled, We will figure this out together. We Can do it by troubleshooting, and eliminating things one by one. I did see on My "Dell Downloads & Drivers" Page. That Dell had released a Hotfix Patch for the Dell DataSafe, because it would cause skipping, stuttering is what the hotfix said, I tried that one, did not work. I have also been trying the other steps of elimination from: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/p/19142484/19265470.aspx#19265470 mentioned in this Post here: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/p/19412524/19986557.aspx#19986557 , I will keep working on it, and Together We Will beat this thing.... I will update ANY updates as I come across them. Thanks for inputting your information on here, We Can Do This...

Mick Barker Sr.

A+ Tech

Certified Help Desk Support

I want to thank all of you for your input and posting the problem to begin with, we can defeat this problem, Together.

I have the same problem, in fact, last week everything was ok, until i run the dvd restoration tool, i formatted and everything went wrong. After that, i used the factory restoration tool and the same problem occurs. I'm desperate and in my search through the web i found this thread. I hope we'l find the solution, i called at the Dell Service Center at my country (Mexico) and they said my warranty will apply and that they should make a motherboard replacement but i don't want that. Besides, if the problem is a bad codec or something like that why change all the motherboard. They have no clue i guess.

It looks like of the 5 people reporting this problem so far, all have Windows 7 and the problem started recently. That would suggest to me that an update is the culprit. Often when a Microsoft update messes up the audio the only solution is to return to the original factory configuration and to disable automatic updates, and then only to accept security updates and not driver updates.

Looking at the Dell drivers for the 1545's with 7, I notice that the IDT driver was updated in September. I wonder if that update could have been included in an October update from Microsoft. The version of the current IDT driver is 6.10.0.6272, A04. It would be on the hard drive at c:\dell\drivers\R312650

It might be worthwhile to try the previous version of the IDT driver. To do that, delete the R312650 folder, then download and install

IDT version 6.10.0.6255, A02 (folder name R249932) dated 11/23/2009.

Dell Quickset was updated at the same time. It is less likely to be a culprit than the IDT driver, but it could be.

(I have edited this post -- Jim)

Here is a list of the people who have reported this problem and their operating systems as best as I could determine:

SuperBird  Win 7
Hawk1357   Win 7 SP 1
Mick Barker Sr.   Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Telekinesiz  Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
ThePine   Win 7 64-bit, SP1

mao.tsetung

Jim,

My OS is Win 7 Home Premium x64 Bit, Came Preinstalled on 1545, and problem has started within the last Four Weeks. I will try the older driver you have listed to see if that helps. Thanks for the Tips.

Mick Barker Sr.

I also have tried the disabling of Wireless Connection maybe because of Wireless interference, tried the QuickSet Uninstall, Tried the Hotfix for DataSafe that Dell Released, Tried several other options too.