Does anyone know?

[rydia57]

Hi,

I make text with audio stories sometimes and sometimes when I make the audios they skip or alot... I notice it does it less on cd quality, but it also makes the file bigger. I have Win98se, 128mb ram, I use Audacity to record the audios. Is it a ram problem? I guess it would be easier to fix if I were. Hope someone can help.

 

[SubNebGuy]

Well, why in god's name are you using Win98? You do realize that is a crappy OS don't you?

It could be Win98 driver related.
It could be low RAM.
It could be the CPU.

Also, have you tested the final file on a different PC? It could just be that your old machine can't play a good file without skipping, where a better machine could.

 

[cd1_christine]

Holier-than-thou.

Well, why in god's name are you using Win98? You do realize that is a crappy OS don't you?

It could be Win98 driver related.
It could be low RAM.
It could be the CPU.

Also, have you tested the final file on a different PC? It could just be that your old machine can't play a good file without skipping, where a better machine could.

Man, how I hate holier than thou computer geeks. Maybe she's using Windows 98 because that's what came with the computer, and she's had no reason to upgrade? Ever think of that? Not everybody has to have the latest and greatest all the time. Most of the time the latest isn't the greatest, anyway. I've got computers running everything from Windows 3.1 up to XP Pro, and I see no reason whatsoever to upgrade the older ones, since they all do what I need them to do.
There's nothing wrong with Windows 98, as long as it does what you need it to.

The question we've got to figure out is, does it do what you need it to?
I highly doubt it's low RAM, since Win98 runs reasonably in 32MB. Could be a Win98 driver, but an update should fix it. I'm leaning more towards the CPU. Do you know what processor is in your system, and how fast it is?

Is the system slow in any other way? Does it take more than 45-60 seconds to boot up to a usable desktop? You could have way too much stuff running in the background, that's sapping your computer's power. How many items are in your system tray? Have you had a recent spyware check done on it?
Am I responding to your question with more questions than answers?

 

[temp256]

When is the last time you defragmented the hard drive? That could cause skipping.

 

[rydia57]

Yes, it does seem like alot more questions!



I use Win98se cos it works fine for me, and the last thing I wanna do is upgrade to XP. My processor is a Pentium something, 550 mhz. I had five icons in the system tray, one I couldn't remove until now... that Task Scheduler. the others are my sound card, my video card, sound icon, and antivirus. The files kinda big, but I'll try it on my other computer...

 

[cd1_christine]

Ok...a couple more suggestions.

Yes, it does seem like alot more questions!

I use Win98se cos it works fine for me, and the last thing I wanna do is upgrade to XP. My processor is a Pentium something, 550 mhz. I had five icons in the system tray, one I couldn't remove until now... that Task Scheduler. the others are my sound card, my video card, sound icon, and antivirus. The files kinda big, but I'll try it on my other computer...

What antivirus is it? Norton? If so, what version? It's a pig that can take a lot of processor. Although a 550MHz Pentium II or Pentium III should be enough to do audio recording if there are only those few things running.
Could be that you've got a virus or some spyware that your antivirus isn't catching. I've seen that happen a lot with the big brand antivirus software.
Try Trend Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com) as a second opinion. It runs online in your browser, so you don't need to install anything. It also catches a lot of spyware.

Something else it could be, is a failing hard drive. If a drive starts to go bad, it slows down as it tries to correct it's own errors. Do you happen to know what brand your drive is? You could download the diagnostic software from the manufacturer and test it just to be on the safe side.
If you don't know what brand it is, PM me and I'll get you a utility that will figure it out for you. I've also got the diagnostic software for I think every brand of drive there is, other than Toshiba, who don't make any software.
(Gee, can you tell I do this stuff for a living? )

The defragmentation idea from a couple of posts up is also a good idea. Although it can take forever on 98 with anti-virus software running. Try it in safe mode and it'll be quicker. (Repeatedly press F8 just after you turn the computer on. Eventually it'll pop up a menu that you don't normally see. Select 'Safe Mode' and hit Enter. Your desktop will look ugly, as there's no video driver loaded, but you can defragment without your antivirus software restarting it every 30 seconds.)

 

[rydia57]

Wow...


I'm using AVG7.1 I have a Maxtor hard drive. It better not be dying I just got the computer last month! I tried defragging with Norton awhile ago, but it more like optimized than defragged, so I'm gonna use the Windoze defrag later tonite.
I hope it's not that serious. I just know I gotta post this audio story this week. But it had like three or four skips in it... sigh. I tried downloading a newer version tho.

 

[cd1_christine]

Hard drive.

Wow...


I'm using AVG7.1 I have a Maxtor hard drive. It better not be dying I just got the computer last month! I tried defragging with Norton awhile ago, but it more like optimized than defragged, so I'm gonna use the Windoze defrag later tonite.
I hope it's not that serious. I just know I gotta post this audio story this week. But it had like three or four skips in it... sigh. I tried downloading a newer version tho.

Maxtor. Ouch. 80% of the dying/dead drives I replace in my business are Maxtors. Having said that, the DiamondMax line is fairly reliable. It's their low end drives that suck horribly.
Google for PowerMax. You'll need a floppy disk, as it boots from the floppy to completely remove Windows from the picture. The utility itself is an executable that writes an image to the floppy, then you reboot. There are two tests it can run, a quick test and a complete test including a surface scan.
If it turns out it's failing, get another drive ASAP. I'm assuming you bought this computer used, so it's probably got no warranty from the seller. I can send you a utility which will let you copy your old drive contents to the new drive, hopefully saving everything on it in the process. If you run for too long with a failing drive though, you will lose files! I can't stress that enough. If the Powermax software says it's OK, it's probably something else, but definitely run this diagnostic program on it to be sure.

If the diagnostic says it's failing, go to https://www4.maxtor.com/en/support/service/rma/create/ and type in the serial number. There's a small possibility it's still under warranty from Maxtor, even if it's an older system. Probably not, being a 550MHz, but it can't hurt to check. If it is, they can ship you a new one before you send them your old one, (with a credit card number, of course, just in case you don't send a dead drive back to them) then you can copy all the files from old to new, and ship your old one back to them.

If you need to replace the drive and it's not under warranty, currently I'm recommending Seagate. They've got a 5-year warranty, which is the best in the industry right now, and they're fast, quiet drives, too.

Let me know how you make out.

(Oh, one more thing. The optimizing that Norton does, and defragmenting that Windows does are both the exact same thing, just called something different by different vendors. Functionaly, it's identical.)

 

[fenda]

try re scheduling virus scans away from recording times
128 ram should be fine for audio
get some cache clearer like ccleaner
try windows own audio recorder found in accecoreis
all programmes in case audacity is installed incorrectly
and perhaps try an uninstall re install on it
good luck

 

[rydia57]

I defragged last night, also checked the hard drive so it's ok. it seems clearer. I used the Windoze sound recorder. it didn't skip or anything, and I made another full recording on a recorder I just downloaded. I guess it was just that version of Audacity. Still I'm getting more ram. I'll do a search on the "ccleaner. Thanks all!