Hi. I have a serious problem. Sometimes the sound volume starts going up, and it doesn't stop until it reaches the top. I can turn it down, but after a few seconds it starts to increase again. The only way I found to make it stop is to reboot.

Has anyone seen anything like this? I'm using Windows XP.

I'm guessing this is releated to skype somehow, but killing skype didn't stop the volume from going up. Still had to reboot.

Is there any way to find which program is responsible for that volume change? It started to happen very recently and I've had this computer for over 6 years. The only recent change I know about is Skype. I should probably mention that I have a Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro sound card. It wouldn't surprise me if that has anything to do with this.

Thankful for any help!

Your keyboard doesn't happen to have volume control buttons on it, does it?

Quote: Original post by ApochPiQ
Your keyboard doesn't happen to have volume control buttons on it, does it?

That was my initial thought, as my keyboard has a slightly temperamental volume dial on it that will occasionally start sending "volume up" or "volume down" repeatedly keys a short while after adjusting it normally. When it starts doing that I just need to rotate it again and it stops.

My keyboard indeed has buttons to adjust volume, which I've been using daily for the last 3 years at least. I've had the problem the last 3 weeks, so why now?

I also have two remote controls which can adjust the volume and an external box to my soundcard which has a rotatable volume thingy.

When it happend the last time, I tried to press the volume buttons on my keyboard in case it was one of those being stuck, but it didn't help.

Does it happen when you mute the sound card in Master Volume?

I think so, but I'm not 100% sure.

do you have a roommate?

No. I have a GF, but it happens independent of wether or not she's here.

I'm pretty sure this is a software problem, and again, it seems highly likely to be releated to Skype. It could also be that Creative have it's own volume setting which it tries to keep in sync with windows own but somehow fail and become desynced which it tries to correct but fail.

I'm guessing there's some function in the win32 api which allows a program to set volumes. Is there any way to hook it or something to find who's calling it?

try disabling skype's auto gain control. see http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=34712. But if killing all processes of Skype didn't help, I'm not sure that will do anything.

It was already disabled.

I came to think of something. It pretty much has to stop after a while. Sometimes when I wake up, the volume is at max, but then I can change it back to normal. Works for several hours at least.

If it's not skype, what other programs may change volume? I know Windows Live Messenger does when I enter a voice convo, but I can change it back without problems. I have set Skype to leave my settings alone. I have winamp, but afaik it uses it's own volume settings? My TV tuner card? The software was not running at that time though.

Could a failing battery in a remote control cause this? Seems highly unlikely.