Sometimes if an application is hanging it will do that, or if there is meca ammounts of spyware. Do the good ol' control alt del and see what's running in the processes, if you don't see anything funny, then definately check into spyware or virus.
This might sound weird but if you are using on board sound or you have a sound card and you aren't using onboard sound try unplugging your speakers and restarting it.
Another thing you can try is to unplug your internet connection if you're using cable, maybe somebody's using your computer as a front runner.
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46,400 , movin on up. 48k new goal.