Boot became slow and the audio service is not running...

Gumby

New Member
Messages
11
For reasons unknown to me, my boot has noticeably slowed down, and when I reach the desktop, the volume icon in the system tray has a red x on it, indicating the audio service is not running. Because these two issues arose simultaneously, I can't help but think they must be related.

This is a new problem on my Windows 8.1 Pro x64 installation.

My boot drive is an SSD, and Windows 8.1 was always very fast to load. It used to only be 2-3 seconds on the 'Welcome' screen before the desktop. Now it takes more like 10 to 15 seconds on the 'Welcome' screen before reaching the desktop. That's not a huge problem in itself, but apparently symptomatic of something not quite right, and it coincided with the "audio service is not running" problem.

I can't think of any changes I made to my configuration, certainly nothing related to the Windows Audio service.

Another odd thing is: if I go into Services, it clearly shows Windows Audio actually is running (and set to Automatic startup). If I select Restart the service, it does and the volume icon then acknowledges it. While that solves the volume issue until the next time I boot, it obviously doesn't fix the underlying problem.

Any suggestions on how to diagnose and resolve this issue? Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Try clean boot and see if the issue still persist.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    i5-6500 @3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B150-HD3P-CF
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2133 Crucial Ballistix Sport LT
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X 6G
    Sound Card
    Built-in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Liyama ProLite XB2483HSU-B2
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX200 500GB & Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB
    PSU
    Corsair RM550x
    Case
    Fractal Design Define S
    Cooling
    Cooler Master TX3 i
    Keyboard
    Func KB-460 (MX Red)
    Mouse
    Corsair Gaming M65 RGB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Total Security 2017 + MBAM Pro + MBAE Pro
    Other Info
    Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage V2 headset
Thanks for the tip. As a matter of fact, no, the issue is gone in clean boot. And after much trial & error, I was able to isolate it to my anti-virus protection service. Apparently, after a recent update (which the anti-virus does multiple times per day), the antivirus service causes the slow boot and conflict with the audio service.

Although disabling my antivirus resolves the problem, going without protection isn't a great solution. But at least I now know to complain to my antivirus vendor.

Interesting, thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
You're welcome, I'm glad you found the issue :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    i5-6500 @3.20GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B150-HD3P-CF
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2133 Crucial Ballistix Sport LT
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X 6G
    Sound Card
    Built-in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Liyama ProLite XB2483HSU-B2
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX200 500GB & Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB
    PSU
    Corsair RM550x
    Case
    Fractal Design Define S
    Cooling
    Cooler Master TX3 i
    Keyboard
    Func KB-460 (MX Red)
    Mouse
    Corsair Gaming M65 RGB
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Total Security 2017 + MBAM Pro + MBAE Pro
    Other Info
    Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage V2 headset
what anti virus are you using because no anti virus should do that I have mcAfee and that is as good as gold
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64 Home Version 1803 (Build 17134).472
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP 15-bw067sa
    CPU
    AMD Dual-Core Processor E1-7010(1.5GHz)
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    4096MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon tm R2 Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 Pixels
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba
    Case
    True Blue
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Prection Touchpad
    Mouse
    Built in with touch keyboard
    Internet Speed
    Fast
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Microsoft Office 365 new version: Fast Track Office 2016
    CCleaner
Emsisoft Anti-Malware.

It has been very good, and hasn't caused me issue over the 2-3 years I've been using it, until now. So I don't want to give them a bad report. I suppose this could be some corruption of the installation that occurred on my end. I haven't contacted Emsisoft yet, and I haven't tried reinstalling it, etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Back
Top