DPC Latency

[Dermbrian]

After a few months of use, my Windows 7 all-in-one PC from MSI  (AE2220) is again having problems with something called DPC Latency.  I've upgraded all the drivers (video, audio, and wireless lan) to the newest, and it doesn't help.  I run the program dpclat.exe (DPC Latency Checker) and it displays many instances of red bars.

Bottom line:  My jukebox software sounds like crap.  My $900 PC can't play mp3 files without dropouts that are audible.

I know that if I restore the unit to the as-shipped software configuration, it will work again.  But I also know that several months down the road the problem will occur again.  About the only sure way I know to have this thing do what PC's have been able to do forever....play back an mp3 without difficulty....is to never connect it to the internet, never update anything on it, and make it nothing more than a music player. 

The most common offered solution to this problem is "disable your LAN card and see if that helps".  As if LAN cards are not something you want to use.  People with this problem try things like installing a different vendor's USB wireless adapter, but never do I see anybody saying anything other than 'that didn't help'.

So.....has anyone here encountered this problem, and has anyone here successfully 'cured' a Windows 7 PC of this affliction?  I really would rather have my nice touchscreen PC still be our Skype center, our Hulu unit, and do more than just run DWJukebox, and I would really like to avoid wiping the drives and the day-long process of getting stuff put back on it after a restore.

Any advice or shared experiences welcome.

Brian

[egosbar]

do a system restore for a restore point when it was working

programs / accessories / system tools / system restore

you wont lose any of your files

way i fix most of my problems

if not i use errorfix live remote support help , great software and support , been using it for 5 years and about 40 bucks gets you support on three computers for 3 years , i havent had to take a computer to a shop for about 6 years now , they have fixed every issue online with remote support

[Dermbrian]

System restore, even when I check the box that says "show more restore points" only offers 7 restore points, with the oldest only being one week old.  Nowhere near as many as I would have seen under previous Windows OS's.

So....it only goes back to right before I updated drivers, and therefore only back to when the problems were already pretty bad.  The degradation creeps up.  You hear a couple of little glitches (or do you?) that you're not sure you're even hearing, and then it gets worse and worse until you can't even play a CD from the drive without hearing this stuff.

System restore is a good idea, but probably only if acted on really early.  It's too late in this case.

Brian

[Dermbrian]

I've been looking into a program called Rollback RX, which claims to be able to restore your Windows 7 pc to an earlier state.  Where Windows Restore just keeps deleting restore points, Rollback RX doesn't unless you tell it to.  But at $69 for a single PC license, I'm not pulling the trigger just yet.


What I really need is the discipline to run DPC Latency Checker every day, to be on the lookout for this creeping back in.  If I do, then I could probably use System Restore and have a chance to see what changed.   Note:  If I stop my wireless lan card, it turns to solid tall red bars for about 5 minutes and then finally looks just like this but without those tall ones...just the short red ones about every 15 seconds.

Brian

[Dermbrian]

Now this is interesting.  My story of receiving Windows 7 SP1 as an update today, along with a big scare, and a new screenshot of my much-improved latency.  These numbers don't give any distortion to the playback of mp3's.  Time to make an image backup RIGHT NOW!

1. Install Windows updates? Y/N < --- selected Y
2. "Installing Windows 7 Service Pack 1" and IE9.
3. No mention of turning off or restarting. Message received that updates were installed successfully.
4. Rebooted on my own. 20 minutes of actually applying the updates. Things were OK.
5. Rebooted a little later because things seemed 'jerky'.
6. PC shut itself off right after 'Loading Windows" started. Tried a couple times.
7. Eventually, PC asked I wanted to repair the startup problem. Selected 'Y!!!!"
8. Pretty quickly, the PC asked me if I wanted to do a restore from a previous point.  I selected "No".
8. After 15 minutes, PC tells me it can't fix startup problem. Asks if I want to send error report. Wondering just how that could happen without network loaded.
9. I shut down. Tried rebooting again. PC starts.

Arrrggghhh. My name is Brian and I'm a (()*&(*^%%@ PC.

But, I checked my DPC latency just now and the tallest spikes, which have always been related to the use of the built-in wireless adapter, are gone for now.  The typical value of the green bars is also lower.   I sure hope it continues like this. 

Brian