I neglected to add.....using headphones instead of speakers also did not help. So I'm pretty sure the speakers themselves are not the issue. It must be something within Windows XP itself.

eddie,

hey, i have a D800 and from time to time i have the same problem. i agree, its very annoying and i think that dell or microsoft (whoever is responsible for it) should go about trying to fix it.

anyway, im pretty sure the problem lies in the poor insulation of the sound card from the power section of the laptop (the reason you get the 60Hz hum from the sound card when its plugged in sometimes...). ive found that most of the time if i unplug my lappy and turn it off for a while (about an hr) that it goes away. i think its from some kind of electrical interference building up in the soundcard as a result of the AC power coming into the laptop. im probably wrong, but its the only thing that makes sense.

than again, when it comes to microsoft, it doesnt have to make sense. hope this helps.

-p