Audacity randomly crashes / stops playing sound

[Mousse]

I've been using Audacity for a while now and this just happened recently . I can't remember which version I was using , I think it was 1.8 something. Anyway I load mp3s into audacity using open and play them at higher speeds and sometimes audacity just stops playing the sound i.e the line is moving but the green bars indicating the L and R deplete completely. If I stop the track then play it again clicking on the Play button Audacity then crashes by hanging forcing me to close it. Another problem is that if that doesn't happen (the sound stopping) audacity just crashes randomly. I have tried to solve this problem by uninstalling then reinstalling the latest version but the problem persists and it's very annoying.

I use Windows 7 Ultimate x86 with Audacity version 2.0.5 , I can't remember if it was the installer or zip.

[Djard]

I'm not certain but this kind of problem sounds like a Windows driver problem. It won't hurt to re-install the driver for your sound card. I'd download the latest driver version then go to Start -> Control Panel -> Device Manager, where you can update the driver. Reboot afterwards.

[Mousse]

Ok I just done that but it doesn't seem to have worked ; I checked for updates but it said it was updated already so I unistalled it then reinstalled it before rebooting. I played an mp3 on audacity and it still crashed after a while. I'm not sure if this helps but this all happened after my speakers sort of 'broke' . The switch I turn to control the volume broke off and I had to insert it inside deeper and now it either makes one speaker really loud or gets a lot of noise emitting from it unless I hit it. Hard to explain.

[steve]

I checked for updates but it said it was updated already

Windows only checks for generic Windows drivers. It does not check for the latest drivers for your specific sound card - to do that you need to check it yourself.

If your computer is a branded computer and you are using the original sound card that came with the computer, then check the manufacturers web site for the latest drivers for you computer model and Windows version.

[Mousse]

I'm not sure I have a seperate sound card as I think it's integrated onto the motherboard , how do I check? I checked device manager but couldn't find anything useful.

[steve]

If you have a branded computer, go to the manufacturers web site and look for the latest drivers for your computer model and operating system.

[Mousse]

It's a custom computer someone built for me , I do know details of some of the hardware inside though.

[steve]

In that case you want the mother board manufacturer and look for the specific mother board that you have.
If its a full size computer and you can easily get the cover off, then the model number is often printed directly on the motherboard.