If you have upgraded to the 32 or 64 bit versions of Windows 7, you may have noticed the following symptoms:
- Flash crashes all browsers except 32 bit Internet Explorer
- Remote Desktop stuck on “Configuring Remote Session”
- Games requiring sound crash
- Sound mixer hangs when you click on the volume control
This is caused by an unpublished incompatibility between Windows 7 and the IDT Sound driver utility. This can be removed by going to add/remove programs:
Start > Run > type: appwiz.cpl > select IDT Sound > Remove
Caveat: removing this driver utility can impair some functionality, but will still allow you to adjust audio settings through Windows. The driver should be available from your computer manufacturer’s website (you may want to confirm this by browsing the support section of their website).
One last thing, reinstalling IDT Audio seems to make it all work again; however, watching Flash video in non 32 bit IE browsers causes some serious CPU spikes along with audiodg. Pick your poison, I guess…
Leave a comment if you have a question
I uninstalled IDT Audio, and even deleted the IDT folder, but the problem still remains. Eventually the flash crashes, and the Sound mixer still hangs when I click on the volume control.
Did you reboot your computer after you uninstalled IDT? I have performed this fix 3 times and have not seen the problem remain, but there could be other factors at play. Please be sure that the STacSV service has been either removed or stopped by going to Start > Run > services.msc (or through the task manager). This seems to be where the real issues come into play as booting into safe mode (which stops non-essential services from running) should let you play Flash video with no problems.
If you haven’t tried this already, reboot your computer into “Safe Mode with Networking” by repeatedly pressing F8 as the computer is booting. Connect to the internet once Windows has finished loading and go to youtube or another website with Flash video to see if it is working. If it does work, then your problem is likely the IDT audio driver, if it still does not work you may have a different problem (try uninstalling/reinstalling Flash).
I rebooted before noticing the problem continued.
The STacSV service doesn’t exist.
I know it has to do with IDT, because when I disable all its audio devices flash works fine without crashing. So I don’t need to go to safe mode to know it’ll work, since in safe mode I noticed there weren’t even any IDT playback devices listed.
And, installing flash again has never worked.
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?
Sure thing, go right ahead.
This worked for me. Thanks a lot for the tip. You can also uninstall IDT through the device manager if it isn’t in the programs list.
I’ve tried doing run > appwiz cpl in windows 7 but get an error that appwiz does not exist
Make sure you are typing appwiz.cpl (that’s appwiz(dot)cpl). If that doesn’t work, try:
Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program, or as newbie has suggested you can remove it through the device manager.
So far, this is the only solution that has worked for me. After I removed the IDT file my sound was not working. I re-installed as suggested and it works fine now. Thus far, no crashes. Thanks!
I have the same problem. Whenever I try to watch a video on Hulu or Facebook, use my webcam or use Skype, shockwave flash crashes. I have uninstalled IDT audio and still the problem persists. I do not have STacSV on my computer. Also, I have recently upgraded to Windows 7 and when I had Vista I never experienced this problem. Please help! I can do almost nothing on the Internet and its extremely annoying
You may want to try booting into safe mode to see if videos play okay. To do this, reboot your computer and repeatedly press the F8 key until it prompts you how you want to boot; select “Safe Mode with Networking”. Once your computer has loaded up, go to a site to watch a video (best if you pick one you were having problems with before). If it works, you are likely still experiencing a driver issue. I have found that Windows Update wants to “solve” this problem for me by either reinstalling the IDT driver or picking an incorrect driver.
At this point, I have reinstalled IDT from my computer manufacturers website and it seems to be working okay, at least for the moment. I would suggest attempting to reinstall from your computer manufacturers website.
Let me know if you are still having problems after trying these.