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This is caused by an unpublished incompatibility between Windows 7 and the IDT Sound driver utility.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 am a software developer/IT professional helping businesses save money through informed purchase consulting; website development and marketing; and process automation.
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.
Thanks for that tip. When I tried to reinstall the IDT Audio, it said that the hardware is not supported…? Sorry I’m not that great with computers but I really need this problem fixed!
Thanks again for all your help so far
Please answer the following so I can better assist: Which version of Windows 7 are you running, is it 32 or 64 bit and who is your computer manufacturer?
It is the 64 bit and I have an HP
hey, i don’t seem to have an IDT thing on my list?
I’ve been trying to find a fix for this for a few months now and I did what you have suggested…here’s my problem now though-After I rebooted, it installed the IDT driver again all by itself immediately following start-up. I then, went in the try to find the driver to uninstall it again and it’s now where to be found! No where. Any ideas??
Thanks for any help!
Very nice article.. Thanks for sharing..
really great website, highly recommend it and i will bookmark and come back. keep up the good work.
I uninstalled it so it should work now. But I realize I can’t use headphones now which doesn’t solve my problem. I don’t even know how to reinstall IDT besides System Restoring maybe.
Yeah, every manufacturer has implemented the driver in different ways; I lost the integration of my touch audio controls (though they still work). It’s hard to go with a headphone port. You should be able to find the driver at your computer manufacturer’s website. The easiest thing to do is search your computer manufacturer model plus the word “drivers”. For instance, I search “HP dv4-1123us drivers” and the first result was HP’s driver page for my computer. Here is a link to the IDT driver for my laptop.
If you have problems finding it, let me know. As I stated in the post; I have since reinstalled the driver and have experienced no subsequent issues.
Thx for this great information that you are shareing with us
is this tip can be use for a desktop?hope to get the answer ASAP..
thank you.
Hi John, yes this can be used for any computer running Windows 7
Hi Rob,
I’m using a compaq laptop with a conexant sound card and am having the same problem re/; crash of shockwave. Should I uninstall this and then reinstall it?
Thanks!
Steven
Hi Steven,
I am not sure about the conexant sound card; however, if you are experience the same issues as others, it could very likely be the problem. If you have the software to reinstall, there isn’t much harm you could do by testing this. My opinion… go for it. Let us know if it works!
Rob