Scratching noise a soundcard problem?

[mikehende]

I hooked up an old PII Dell which I hadn't used in 3 years or so and played music through it for a few hours when all of a sudden I started getting a scratching noise intermittently, I am going to change the soundcard but was just wondering if this can be caused by any other pc component or if anyone here has ever had this problem?

[Rich-M]

That could easily be cd rom doing that as you say old and unused (assuming that is how you are playing whatever you are playing).

[dbarrow]

Pops, crackles, hisses, drop outs can all stem from many sources. It can be tough to track down. Start with the source of the media. Play it in another player. Check all your connections. For a PCI sound card, pull it out, dust it off, closely inspect the connection pins and jacks.

[mikehende]

The playback software is fine, I will switch soundcards first to eliminate that.