Im reformatting now so we will see.

Reformatt did nothing except give me falso hope, Fresh install, only driver and 3dmark05, same score as when i got it.

installed wow..same crap.

Well in that case, I hate to say it then considering you got your entire motherboard replaced before (according to your posts in the Hypersonic section), but your vid card is probably defective. You can talk to Hyper about a replacement or if you want to, you can just buy one from Asus' e-store and replace it yourself.

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp...3227&catid=357

Help!!! Please forgive my ignorance. I can follow step-by-step, detailed instructions, but I am otherwise incompetent.

I have an ASUS Z71V. Been very happy with it, other than the battery prob, and got that resolved with a replacement.

Last 4-6 months have had choppy/garbled/skipping sound when playing any type of audio file. Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer all the same problem. Worked great when I first got it a little over a year ago.

Have tried defragging, registry cleaning, chkdsk, uninstalling audio driver (RealTek), etc.

Last hope is a reformat but I'm really don't want to go there.

Sound is generally garbled and choppy from the startup Windows (XP SP2) tune to the shutdown Windows tune; sometimes it's okay, but its never good with a music or video file, even after all running programs (toolbar) are closed. Used to be able to run a lot simultaneously with no degradation in sound quality. Also Very slow boot-up (3+ mins.)

Have tried changing various sound/system settings with no effect.

Don't recall any new installations at the time, other than updates for the programs listed below, Adobe Acrobat, etc. Have tried uninstalling some programs with no effect.

Tried updating to 210 and 212 Bios with no effect.

Can't seem to find any applicable fixes via Microsoft or other Help mediums.

Suspect Harddrive problem or Windows Update conflict/corruption.

Please let me know what system info you need to know to provide assistance. And remember, I'm pretty much clueless and using this laptop out of the box.

Currently running Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Spybot, AdAware, AVG, Spyware Blaster, Windows Defender --- all current updates (Windows, too) and no problems detected (free versions).

I really don't want to reformat ...

Thanks!

Have you tried running microsoft bootvis? Bootvis is a utility that can trace and remap the boot order of your programs for greatest speed and efficiency. You can download it for free from a number of places, then after installing, run the program and select the "trace" tab, and then "nex boot". It will then restart your computer and trace what's starting in what order. It should give you a time - noted series of bar graphs showing your boot activity. Then go back to the trace tab and this time choose "optimize". It will restart your computer again, and this time, it will rearrange your boot order so it works the best. Subsequent boots after following this procedure should be noticeably faster.

Also, you might want to try downloading an application called CCleaner, which gets rid of a whole lot of junk thet you don't need .

Thanks for the quick reply.

I run CCleaner regularly along with the programs already mentioned.

I will try Bootvis. Will this likely help the sound issues or just the slow boot?

I would appreciate any other thoughts re: the sound issues. Thanks!

Something else I forgot to mention, and a reason I suspect the harddrive (7200 rpm), is that every now and then it seems to click and clatter loudly, almost like marbles bouncing around. This is intermittent. The biggest issue still is the audio playback.

Ok, just tried Bootvis. No help on the boot-up time or the sound issue ...

if your hard drive is clicking, then you're probably right that that's your problem. I'd talk to your reseller or the manufacturer, as most hard drives are sold with a 3-5 year warrantee.

hi, i recently formated my notebook, and for some reason, the back 4 usb slots are reading as usb 1.1, can anyone help me out?

in device manager, there should be 4 USB controllers and one enhanced USB controller. that one enhanced controller enables USB 2 on all 5 ports. if your ports aren't reading as USB 2, then check to make sure you've got the enhanced controller installed.

hmm, my FN + F2 isnt work, to turn on and off wireless.. can anyone help me out? i thought i had all the drivers, maybe im missing one?

just use the middle (third) hotkey to the left of the power button

edit: and the driver for all that stuff is called ATK0100

ah, thank you very much, everything seems to be in working order now :]

you can get the version with pictures here: http://www.z71forums.com/Downloads/Z71VInstallGuide.pdf

Cool! I got the manual and did the RAM install. I think I bent the tabs a bit, but everything seems to be working just fine. Thanks again!

(Why they don't just put the expansion slot under an easily removable cover in the bottom is beyond me ...