Audacity Forum

Help! I've recently purchased a new Dell computer, with Vista Home Premium. Audacity 1.26 hardly worked at all, so I installed 1.38. It's a little better, but about two or three minutes into a recording (using a hand-held mike that always worked well with my old computer and audacity 1.26), the sound quality starts to deteriorate and after ten or fifteen seconds it stops recording coompletely. This ALWAYS happens, although occasionally it may record well for four or five minutes. Any suggestions? Anyone? I don't want to go back to Windows XP.

Upgrade to the latest beta version (currently 1.3.9)

The problem is likely to be with your sound card set-up.
I'm guessing that you are using an on-board sound card - it probably has "echo cancellation" / "noise reduction" / "Automatic Gain Control" or similar. Look in the Windows Control Panel and find this/these settings and turn them off. Better still, upgrade your sound card - on-board sound cards are OK for skype, but pretty rubbish for even half serious recording.