Hi People,I have just purchased a new Dell 8300 with an Audigy 2 sound card from Creative. I get some clicking and crackling sounds when running stuff like PIC 767 or PSS A320 etc.Could any of you experts out there help me with this issue. Much appreciated.Lol,Dinshaw.

I have the exact same problem with my new Audigy 2. It only seems to happen with some add-ons: PSS Dash-8 is the worst, Iron Knuckles DC-9 is pretty bad, Lago's F-16 is slightly affected. My Dreamfleet Cessna Cardinal doesn't have the problem at all. I have tried reducing hardware acceleration to no avail.But something has to give. There is no way I can put up with this.

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I have a Sound Blaster Live! and I notice I get a cracking or poping as soon as the processor is put on a load, I sometimes get it when I am listening to music and all of a sudden I got a bunch of stuff open then ask it load Photoshop, it might pop or crack while its loading then once done its fine, I have found that in FS what to do if you ahve XP is, when your at the screen to create a flight, minimize, open task manager, go to processes, find FS2002.exe, right click and set priority to High, if you have other utilties running like RW, SCombo, set those to high as well then that normally solves my problem.

Dinshaw,You may want to start here.....Windows XP was designed to allow it to support additional programs even after you install it. The Windows XP Application Compatibility Update is a package of software updates that expand program compatibility support in Windows XP. This can help to avoid common issues with certain programs. Microsoft recommends that you download this compatibility update if you are having problems with any of the programs that this update is designed to support.This update is available on the Microsoft Windows Update Web site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.comFor additional information about the latest service pack for Windows XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 322389 How to Obtain the Latest Windows XP Service Pack MORE INFORMATIONThis update addresses issues with the following programs: 102 Dalmations Puppies to the Rescue - DisneyAudigy Utilities - Creative LabsAVIChop - Vasili PapaconstantinouB-17 Flying Fortress - MicroproseBackweb Lite Installer - BackWebEmergency Fighters for Life - WizardWorksFIFA 2002 - EA SportsGrokster - Grokster, LtdHalf-Life CounterStrike - SierraHoyle Card Games 5 - SierraHumongous Registration Program - Humongous EntertainmentIConfig - SCM Microsystems Inc.Jamella Diablo II Editor - JamellaJekyll and Hyde - DreamCatcher InteractiveKaZaA - Sharman Networks 2002Midtown Madness - MicrosoftMidtown Madness 2 - MicrosoftMoon Tycoon - Legacy InteractiveMTV TRL Trivia - Take2 InteractiveNeed For Speed: Porshe Unleashed - Electronic ArtsNHL 2002 - EA SportsOfficial Formula 1 Racing - EIDOSPhotoDeluxe Business Edition 1.0 - AdobeThe Playa - Project MayoPrintMaster 4.0 - MindScapeSasami 2000 - NucleiSimMania for Kids: SimPark - MaxisSimMania for Kids: SimTunes - MaxisSimMania for Kids: Widget Workshop - MaxisTaxCut Deluxe 2001 - Block Financial SoftwareTriple Play 2002 - EA SportsVentura 8: CorelDraw - CorelWorks 2001: Calendar - MicrosoftYou may also want to go over this........ General Troubleshooting stepsEnsure your Sound Blaster card is installed in a PCI slot as far away as possible from components such as graphics card, CPU and hard drives. Ensure that the PCI slot doesn't share resources with other devices in your PC (mainly graphics card, drive interfaces, etc...) Remove all unnecessary hardware. Every device installed in your system uses some of the available resources, even if you do not actively use it. Tidy up all cables inside your computer as electrical interference may be caused otherwise. Ensure that audio drivers are up to date. Download and install the latest chipset drivers and BIOS update. The major chipset manufactures are: VIA/ETEQ, AMD, Intel, SIS. Ali Note: If you have a motherboard with a hybrid chipset consisting of AMD Northbridge and VIA Southbridge, ensure you download the latest driver package from your motherboard manufacturer. Squealing Sound from the speakers with DELL 4100, 4300, 8100, and 8200 PC Models 2. Toggle the DMA access for your drives:Windows 98SE/ME:Select Start - Settings - Control Panel then double-click System Select Device Manager Double-click the Generic IDE Disc Type (xx) entry found under Disc Drives and click Settings Uncheck box next to the DMA (Direct Memory Access), then click on OK Windows 2000/XP:Click on Start - (Settings) - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager. Click on View and select Devices by connection. This allows you check which IDE controller the Hard drive(s) is (are) connected to (See Image below) Locate your Hard drive(s) and double click it (them) to open its (their) property-sheet(s). This allows you to find which drive is connected as Device 0 or Device 1 (Location, see Image below). Right-click on the IDE Channel to which the drive is connected (in our example "Primary IDE Channel"), select Properties and Advanced Settings. Click on the Transfer Mode drop-down menu shown under the device number that represents the location of your drive. Select PIO Only. (See Image below) 3. Reduce the the Hardware Acceleration of the graphics card: Windows 9XRight-click on My ComputerChoose Properties - Performance - Graphics. Move the slider for Hardware Acceleration down 1 notch. Restart the system; if necessary, repeat procedure. Windows XP/2000: Right-click on your desktopChoose Properties - Settings - Advanced - Troubleshoot. Move the slider for Hardware Acceleration down 1 notch. Restart the system; if necessary, repeat procedure. 4. Change the resources for SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device:Under Windows 9X, PCI Sound Blaster cards take two Interrupt requests or IRQ's. (One for the SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device and one for the Sound Blaster itself). Normally, the SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device defaults to IRQ 5, 7 or even 9 whereas the Sound Blaster usually uses IRQ 9, 10 or 11, or whatever assigned to it. Occasionally this allocation may be reversed (for example when running Windows 98 with motherboards based on the VIA MVP3 Chipset which may not have the appropriate IRQ Routing Miniport Driver installed), or both devices may be allocated the same IRQ. This sometimes causes sound problems or may result in a malfunction of the SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device.To check the IRQ allocation:Select Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Device Manager. Click on the Computer icon (the first icon in the list) in Device Manager to view the resource allocation for all your devices. If the SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device either shares an IRQ with another device or takes an IRQ higher than the one used by the Sound Blaster, try to install the latest Chipset drivers (specifically the IRQ Routing Miniport Driver when using older VIA Chipsets).In Device Manager select Creative Miscellaneous Devices, SB 16 Emulation (or Sound, video and game controllers, Legacy Device, depending on the card you have). Select this entry and click Properties. Click the Settings tab and select LPT Interrupt Sharing. This allows SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device to use the same interrupt as the Printer Port (Parallel Port, IRQ 7), which does not state a problem, as there hardly will be a situation where the Parallel Port and the SB 16 Emulation / Legacy Device are used simultaneously. 5. Changing/disabling ACPI configurations in Windows 2000/XpDisable ACPI in your BIOS Note: We recommend you check with the motherboard manufacturer for more information about performing these stepsWindows XP:Disable ACPI automatically With ACPI disabled in the BIOS, reinstall Windows over the origional installation Disable ACPI manually Copy the install CD to your hard drive Edit the Txtsetup.sif file to change the ACPIEnable value to 0. Save the file, and then rerun the installation Windows 2000:Disable ACPI automatically With ACPI disabled in the BIOS, reinstall Windows over the origional installation Disable ACPI manually Start Windows 2000 Setup as an upgrade. Press F7 when Setup generates the following informational message: "Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver" . Choose the correct HAL for your system from the provided list MPS Multiprocessor PC MPS Uniprocessor PC Standard PC NOTE: You do not receive a visual indicator that auto detection is taking place when you press F7; proceed normally with setup until it is completed.6. BIOS settingsThe following suggestions require you to access the system BIOS SETUP. Please contact your system vendor, or motherboard manufacturer for assistance in accessing the BIOS SETUP page. There are several tools available to determine the motherboard manufacturer. Some of these tools are located at http://www.motherboards.org. There is an option labeled MOBO TOOLS that will provide you with several options.On a BIOS level, ensure all unused on-board devices are deactivated. This usually includes, but might not be restricted to devices like:Serial Ports Parallel Port Onboard Sound Onboard Game port Onboard Graphics Note: Do not deactivate devices you require for the system to function properly (e.g. do not turn off your onboard graphics if this is the only display adapter you have in your system).The following is a checklist of settings that may need to be modified, and explainations to some of them. Your system`s BIOS may have all, some, or none of the following options. These options may be spread throughout different portions of the BIOS.Enable or Answer YES to the following settings Disable or answer NO to the following settings PCI Streaming PCI 2.1 Compliance PCI (Dynamic) Bursting Bus Mastering for PCI Slot virus Warning or Boot virus Detection VGA Palette Snoop (must be left disabled) Video BIOS Shadowing Video BIOS Cacheable System BIOS Cacheable Video RAM BIOS Cacheable Primary or System Frame Buffer VGA Frame Buffer Power Management Write cache pipelining PnP Aware OS or PnP OS Installed (Toggle) Peer Concurrency System Performance: Collective setting that sets a number of values to influence the systems performance (possible settings: "Turbo", "Fast", "Optimal", "Normal", etc. The naming depends on the BIOS version/motherboard manufacturer. If unclear, contact motherboard manufacturer for more information). VGA Shared Memory Size: Applicable if the motherboards onboard graphics adapter is active. Instead of having dedicated graphics RAM, some onboard VGA solutions require you to reserve a certain amount of the systems main memory. Increasing the memory set aside for the onboard graphics adapter can help reducing traffic on the system. Note: Ensure not to reserve too much of your systems RAM, as this might result in a system-wide slowdown. AGP Aperture Size (MB): It defines how much of your system's memory is to be used as a data buffer for your AGP graphics card. The default setting should be half the system''s RAM, however, certain cards work better with specific settings (e.g.: 128 MB despite having 512 MB in the system). Peer Concurrency: This setting defines if multiple PCI devices can access the PCI BUS simultaneously. Set this to "Disable" if you are unsure whether all PCI devices in your system support this option. Note: disabling Peer Concurrency may prevent IRQ being assigned to certain devices, and it can cause difficulties within Windows 2000 and XP if one of the several ACPI Hardware Abstraction Layers (HAL) is installed. This can cause Windows 2000 and XP to redetect the hardware.PCI 2.1 Support: All Creative PCI sound cards adhere to PCI 2.1 specifications. This setting must be enabled for your Sound Blaster card to function properly. Note: Some BIOS's might have various options for this setting (e.g.: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2). Spread Spectrum Control: This setting reduces Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) by slightly modulating the master clock of your motherboard. Audio glitches might occur on some systems if this setting is enabled. PCI Latency Timer: The PCI Latency Timer is a mechanism that helps PCI bus-mastering capable devices to share the PCI bus. Each PCI device able to operate in bus-master mode is required to implement a timer, called the Latency Timer, that limits the time the device can hold the PCI bus. The timer starts when the device gains bus ownership, and counts down at the rate of the PCI clock. When the counter reaches zero, the device is required to release the bus. If no other devices are waiting for bus ownership, it may simply grab the bus again and transfer more data.If the latency timer is set too low, PCI devices will interrupt their transfers unnecessarily often, hurting performance. If it's set too high, devices that require frequent bus access may overflow their buffers, losing data.Experiment with this value. A good starting point would be 32 (often the default found in many systems BIOS's). Once the PCI Latency Timer has been changed, the new settings have to be saved and the PC needs to boot back into the Operating System. If this doesn't lead to the desired result, repeat the procedure. Memory Hole: This setting needs to be disabled unless you have a device that requires a 1 MB area assigned to it. AGP Fast Writes: Allows the graphics chip to communicate with the chipset / CPU directly. Enable this setting if your graphics card as well as your motherboard support this.Update the system's BIOS: It is advisable to update the BIOS of your system, if none of the above steps solve the problem.If I were you I would make sure that you are running the latest Bios for your particular MB as well as current chipset drivers first before digging real deep into the above.Also, and this is not a flame but incorrect driver installation is a big factor w issues w these cards. Was the driver install performed correctly?Sorry for the length of this post. Just trying to helpBobby