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Windows XP Microphone volume drops unexpectedly / auto adjusts to low value

Windows XP Microphone volume drops unexpectedly / auto adjusts to low value

On windows XP I have just met a very strange behavior: The microphone volume drops unexpectedly to a very low value making online conversations impossible. My guess was that Skype was to blame here and, after searching the web, I found an interesting post which explained how to "clean" skype of this inadequate behavior.

Open Windows Explorer (sounds very bad ) and go to C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Skype and open the shared.xml file with a nice editor (Writer).

Then go to the <VoiceEng> xml tag that should look like this:


Change the first tag to 0 and the second one to 100 (or whatever you want) like below:


Note:
For Skype v 2.5:
255 is max volume and 0 = low. Range is 0 (off) to 255 (maxim)
255 could be much too high, so please reduce if necessary
For Skype 2.6/3:
100 is maxim volume and 0 = low. Range is 0 (off) to 100 maxim.

If the volume is too high, the sound will be dropped and clipped.
AGC setting to 0 will disable control of audio devices.

I now know how to troubleshoot incase I'll experience the same ordeal, and I'll sure stop blaming skype too and yes even my earphone and speaker for the bad quality sound.

You may face this problem when the volume settings or sound the microphone is not properly configured, and even the bad audio drivers may be causing the problem.

I now know how to troubleshoot incase I'll experience the same ordeal, and I'll sure stop blaming skype too and yes even my earphone and speaker for the bad quality sound.

The first
action you should do is to make sure your microphone is configured correctly. Then update your sound drivers.

very low value making online conversations impossible. My guess was that Skype was to blame here and, after searching the web, I found an interesting post which explained how to "clean" skype of this inadequate behavior.

_________________
asad