I am having a huge problem with my audio system. after turning on the computer I have sound, and will continue to have it as long as i don't really use it. But when i start using the sound like with music or skype it will play for anywhere from 1 min to 15 mins and then just shut off. I haven't overloaded the comp with too much music at once or anything, but still cant find the problem... any help out there?

could be a setting on the sound card. have you checked to make sure your codecs are installed correctly? try and reinstall your audio codecs. if not, it could be a bad sound card.

My response to any problem like that with my computer is to go into SYSTEM through control panel, then click on device manager, go to your sound card and remove it. Restart you computer and windows will recognize it as new and then reload it. I'd go the extra step and through device manager, also see if you can update the drivers. If the problem remains, maybe your audio chip or sound card has issues.