I've just got a new computer that came without monitor or speakers, these I thought I didn't need as it was only the tower I really wanted to upgrade. My speakers come from my last computer and are 6 years old. Is it possible that they are too old for a newer computer? I'm not very techy but the background noises, crackling, buzzing, and sometimes a 'ting ting ting' like an ectrontic clock or something, are driving me nuts. When I click on something, like 'apperance' in control panel, the noises are even more intense, at the start and end of command sounds you can hear it louder to for an instant. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to explain. My husband bought home a set of computers from work to try and it was the same, but they too are far from new. When we tried them yesterday I was fiddling around in 'volume control' and when I moved the 'line in' slider up the noises faded away. So we put my own speakers back and all seemed well, until this morning and it's slowly getting louder again. I moved that slider again and even muted it, no change. My old speakers are regular two channel, powered ( I presume as they have an adapter to plug in). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.

Go to Control Panel, click on Audio, Sound Playback, Advanced, Performance and you will see Hardware Acceleration and Sample Rate Conversion Quality. By adjusting these you can troubleshoot to see if it makes any difference. Also, go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, Tools, DirectXDiagnostic Tool, Sound. You can adjust the acceleration and test DirectX sound. If any problems show up it will tell you. Check the Microsoft knowledgebase article as well. Good luck! http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307918