System stutter

[Bill Turnip]

I originally posted about this briefly in the wired mouse stutter thread, but I think it's more pervasive throughout my whole system.

Seemingly out of the blue I have a definite, constant stutter (about 3 times per second) which seems to impact most things on my computer. Drag a mouse across the screen, you can watch it pause and catch up with itself. Microstutters in videos, scrolling etc. I have tried doing this with an FPS counter in the top left, and on web pages it's a locked 144hz, but if you scroll just holding down the down arrow, some pages are fine but others have a noticeable, regular jerk.

At the same time, all the games I had downloaded on gamepass now come up with errors when I try to run them (0x80070002) which suggests something is missing, but I haven't changed anything at all. They all need reinstalling before I can use them again.

Running a benchmark for Horizon Zero Dawn (via steam) however, gampelay is around 110hz, but keeps having stutters down to 70/80hz about 3 times a second. In the menus of Horizon, if I don't move the mouse then everything is fine, but the moment I move the mouse the stutter is there, and the music of the game keeps stuttering at the same frequency.

The screen stutter is also happening on games such as Balatro (via gamepass), but not as noticeable as it is obviously nowhere near as graphically intensive. Music unaffected, however.

Clair Obscur (gamepass) has a screen stutter, but again not as noticeable.

I have run the windows repair tool which has not solved anything. Putting this out to see if anyone has any ideas as to what could be causing this?

Edit: Running Sky Go on my machine also has the very same image stutter, but no impact on sound.

 

[Philtor]

Have you tested your RAM and storage drive for issues?

Use MemTest and CrystalDiskInfo or the relevant software from your drives manufacturer.

 

[Bill Turnip]

I have not yet. Is it Memtest 64 which would be most relevant?

 

[Bill Turnip]

Well, before I've even got to that, I have a new problem - I keep getting the USB disconnected sound every two seconds. This is really strange.

 

[melmac]

Try running in safe mode see what happens.

If it runs fine in safe mode. Try running these two commands in an elevated command prompt.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Then

SFC /scannow

EDIT: actually, before you do all that, have you tried just turning off the computer, disconnecting the power cable. Leave it off for about 2 minutes with the power disconnected. Before you reconnect the power cable, push the power button a few times. Then reconnect it, turn it on, and see if the problems still persist.

IT crowd

 

[Bill Turnip]

The basic starting points are always the best! I have tried a restart, but will give it another go as you suggest. How would I restart in safe mode, is that MB dependent?

 

[Bill Turnip]

Well, tried all of that and sadly no different. Concerned I may need to do a full wipe and redo which I'd rather avoid, but may be necessary.

 

[deviation]

The basic starting points are always the best! I have tried a restart, but will give it another go as you suggest. How would I restart in safe mode, is that MB dependent?

If W11, hold shift and click restart within the start menu, then when it reboots, you'll have a different menu pre Windows loading, and you'll be able to select additional startup options, then press a number on the list and Safe Mode will be in said list, then you're in

 

[Bill Turnip]

If W11, hold shift and click restart within the start menu, then when it reboots, you'll have a different menu pre Windows loading, and you'll be able to select additional startup options, then press a number on the list and Safe Mode will be in said list, then you're in

Thanks for that, got safe mode working by a startup option. No different at the moment, however.

 

[deviation]

Thanks for that, got safe mode working by a startup option. No different at the moment, however.

You're welcome mate. Sorry I wasn't more specific, I only use Windows for gaming, and have an iMac for everything else

I just stole this for you though

"You can also trigger Windows 11 to restart and show you its recovery options by holding the Shift key while clicking the Power button in the Start menu (or at the Windows 11 login screen) and selecting Restart. Once you get the hang of it, this is a bit faster than going through the Settings menu.

Windows 11 should automatically reboot and show you a blue screen (not of Death, thankfully) with four options laid out in blue tiles. If one of them gives you the option to boot into Windows 10, don't get too excited — that's just an outdated reference from the last version of Windows, not a secret time warp feature.

For our purposes, hit the Troubleshoot button. (Forgive these low-res screenshots, it's challenging to capture high-res images of the Windows startup sequence.)

Now that you're in the Troubleshoot menu, navigate to Advanced options > Startup Settings and hit the Restart button.

Only now will your PC restart and show you a list of options for booting Windows 11 into Safe Mode, with or without Networking, by pressing 4 or 5 respectively. If you want to be able to access the internet, make sure to boot into Safe Mode with Networking.

On the other hand, if you think your internet connection or relevant drivers may be the source of your problems, or you just want to work on your PC without being connected to the Internet, launch into Safe Mode without Networking. This will give you a chance to diagnose your PC with just the most basic drivers and software running, which can help you pinpoint a problem fast."

 

[Bill Turnip]

You're a star, thank you for that - that's how I got in, using safe mode with command prompt. It's currently running the sfc scan, as I originally did it before the dism command, not after.

 

[deviation]

You're a star, thank you for that - that's how I got in, using safe mode with command prompt. It's currently running the sfc scan, as I originally did it before the dism command, not after.

Honestly mate, you're very welcome
Fingers crossed for you, let us know if you fix it or need further help

 

[deviation]

Well, before I've even got to that, I have a new problem - I keep getting the USB disconnected sound every two seconds. This is really strange.

I totally forgot to say this before, but FWIW, I run a cheap usb extension cable, and have had this disconnection issue, it really doesn't like it if I ever unplug it when I clean the PC and plug it back in
So it might just be a duff cable, it definitely isn't the USB socket (in my case) as when I don't use the extension, or plug something else in that socket, it's always fine.

If you don't mind spending some extra time, you could flash something like Ubuntu/Linux Mint/Fedora, onto a USB stick, and test your hardware out in a bootable distro, without having to wipe/install to your SSD Once it's fully loaded to RAM, it will be 'good enough' to see if it's an Windows issue, or your hardware - my moneys on you have an iffy USB device though, if you have the options to swap stuff round 1 at a time into different USB ports, to prove whether it's the device or the USB socket, that will be a good shout too. And if you have spare alternative devices, use them and see if it happens in Windows or bootable Linux.

If you've never used Linux, don't fear it, you can simply try it off the USB stick without fear of wiping Windows.

You can use Rufus to flash the Linux distro to a USB stick

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Simply download whatever Linux distro that looks comfortable to you, and open Rufus and add the ISO, and a couple of clicks later, it'll be flashed, then boot off it in your BIOS

It is nice and straight forward to do it, this is what Rufus looks like, you can see how simple it is, which is nice

You can also use it to create Windows USB images and remove certain things you don't want, like having a Microsoft account, or the TPM requirement and various other things

 

[Firegod]

chkdsk /offlinescanandfix might be worth a go.

 

[Bill Turnip]

I'll try the above from both of you once the scan is complete, thank you. The positive spin could be using this meltdown to justify a new build...

 

[deviation]

I'll try the above from both of you once the scan is complete, thank you. The positive spin could be using this meltdown to justify a new build...

You're welcome mate, this way you elminate Windows from the equation and know if it's hardware/plugged it peripherals

But, this also totally gives you enough man points to justify a splurg on a new build Permission granted!

 

[Bill Turnip]

So, have tried a reset of the pc... It won't go through a reset, even when I say to wipe all files. The unplugged USB sound keeps happening every couple of seconds even when there is nothing (other than the power cable) plugged in. I've gone into device manager, and it seems to be resetting itself every couple of seconds. It seems convinced something is constantly being unplugged.

Trying a system restore to this morning, even if I solve the usb detection issue it'll be a start just to to stop the noise! May then look at the linux boot when I have some more time.

I wouldn't mind if I'd been buggering round with the computer, but I haven't!

 

[deviation]

So, have tried a reset of the pc... It won't go through a reset, even when I say to wipe all files. The unplugged USB sound keeps happening every couple of seconds even when there is nothing (other than the power cable) plugged in. I've gone into device manager, and it seems to be resetting itself every couple of seconds. It seems convinced something is constantly being unplugged.

Trying a system restore to this morning, even if I solve the usb detection issue it'll be a start just to to stop the noise! May then look at the linux boot when I have some more time.

I wouldn't mind if I'd been buggering round with the computer, but I haven't!

Use Rufus to create another W11 bootable USB installer and try again, when you have time.
Oh, that definitely sounds more like a software glitch then! When I had that on mine, it was an on/off constant, and I'd remove the cheap extension, and it'd stop. So was the cable.

Yeah that would be interesting to see if Linux eliminates the madness, you'll know, as it'll still give you a pop up notification when stuff is unplugged/inserted (Oh Matron!)

Yep, it's always the way mate, bi-polar technology, it probably hates that it's being used with Microsoft products

 

[melmac]

So, have tried a reset of the pc... It won't go through a reset, even when I say to wipe all files. The unplugged USB sound keeps happening every couple of seconds even when there is nothing (other than the power cable) plugged in. I've gone into device manager, and it seems to be resetting itself every couple of seconds. It seems convinced something is constantly being unplugged.

Trying a system restore to this morning, even if I solve the usb detection issue it'll be a start just to to stop the noise! May then look at the linux boot when I have some more time.

I wouldn't mind if I'd been buggering round with the computer, but I haven't!

Sorry, I got busy today and only catching up with this thread now. If it does the same thing in safe mode, stuttering and USB disconnect sounds, then it's more than likely a hardware issue.

One thing to try is to open open device manager and into the view menu and select show hidden devices.

Now see if there are any USB devices show up when it makes the sound. Or if there any USB devices with yellow exclamation marks, or are greyed out. Disable these devices and see if the problems stop.

If you want to stop the noise it's pretty simple, go to Control Panel then go into sound. Hit the sounds tab at the top. In the window under "program events" Look for Device connect and device disconnect. Disable the sounds and you should have some peace and quiet

 

[Bill Turnip]

One thing to try is to open open device manager and into the view menu and select show hidden devices.

Now see if there are any USB devices show up when it makes the sound. Or if there any USB devices with yellow exclamation marks, or are greyed out. Disable these devices and see if the problems stop.

Going into device manager is a constant refresh, no chance to view anything sadly. No idea what it is that it's deciding is connecting/not.

And the sound is an easy solution with turning the speakers off, but it's handy to have on in case anything I try stops it.