Question Audio randomly cutting out for up to 10 seconds with increased explorer.exe CPU usage?

May 9, 2023
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Hi everyone, I have been dealing with this problem for a week now, and I have no idea what could possibly be causing this. I will provide any additional information needed in the replies.

The audio on my PC will randomly cut out for up to 10 seconds and then come back. So far it has happened while watching YouTube and also playing games. When the audio cuts out, I check task manager and resource monitor and I see explorer.exe at around 10% CPU usage. When the audio returns, explorer.exe returns to <2% usage. This problem previously included a small freeze that would happen for however long the audio was cut out, but a reinstall of Windows has seemed to fix the freezing. The audio cutting out has still remained after the Windows reinstall. No known software had been downloaded at the time of the problem first appearing and it just appeared out of nowhere.

Solutions I have tried:
- Reinstalling Windows, keeping files
- Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner scan
- Switching to my monitor's speakers (the issue still persists)
- sfc /scannow in Command Prompt
- Moving my headset to the headphone jacks at the back of my PC rather than the front
- Disabling audio enhancements
- Reinstalling Realtek audio driver
- Changing audio driver to Microsoft's "High Definition Audio"
- Running a Latencymon test, everything seems normal
- Disabling most unnecessary startup apps


CPU: Intel Core i5-9400F
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Super
RAM: 1x 8GB
OS: Windows 11
Version: 22H2


Any help is very appreciated, thank you!
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What is the make and model of your motherboard? Can you also state the BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time?

Reinstalling Windows, keeping files
You might want to try and reinstall the OS after fabricating a bootable USB installer using Windows media Creation Tools and in offline mode. When installing all drivers for your platform, install all relevant drivers in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.
 
May 9, 2023
3
0
10
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What is the make and model of your motherboard? Can you also state the BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time?

Reinstalling Windows, keeping files
You might want to try and reinstall the OS after fabricating a bootable USB installer using Windows media Creation Tools and in offline mode. When installing all drivers for your platform, install all relevant drivers in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.
Hello, thanks for responding!

My motherboard is made by MSI, the model is MS-B9181 and the BIOS version is American Megathreads Inc. 8.20, 16/05/2019. I will do the OS reinstall soon once I find a USB stick I can use.