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Ok, this is very strange. Recently, i noticed that every 10-15 seconds, there would be this faint, annoying duh-dum sound coming out of my speakers. (hard to describe. sounds somewhat like the sound windows makes when you unplug a USB device, but not as pronounced and much quieter).

I closed every app and ended as many processes as I could, but the sound persists.

I look at the volume mixer and sure enough, when the sound occurs, there is a little spike in the level under "System Sounds".

I haven't installed any hardware or software in the last several weeks.

This started recently - completely out of the blue. Does anyone have any insight?

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9 Answers 9

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Okay, same problem here. I did fix it by clicking the Volume Control » Mixer » System Sounds icon to bring up the system sounds selection window.

Scroll down and look for "device failed to connect". Choose that. You will notice it's the same sound that's looping.

All I did was use the drop down menu and selected None. That stopped the repeating sound for me, for now. It may not be a fix but it works!

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actually I found out later that my external hard drive was acting up, so it was a device causing the beep. Unplugged, rebooted, okay now. –  BG. Dec 11 '09 at 5:40

Have you installed anything recently? Hardware or software?

What I would advise you do is open up Device Manager and just watch, if this is hardware, it should refresh and you should be able to tell what device was added or removed.

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Had this problem, it was because microphone had "listen to this device". And there was no mic in, so i guess it started to pick radio waves

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Test all of you USB connections. If there is anything loose it seems that it can make your computer play that noise, even if everything is functioning properly. I had a problem with a Western Digital external hard drive causing the same noise to occur on my computer (I have also read others with the same problem from these hard drives). Unplugging that fixed the noise right away.

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I had the same problem, and solution for now:

Look for "device failed to connect", choose that. (You will notice its the same sound that's looping) ... It may not be a fix but it works!

I did the same thing as above and everything is okay, BUT "device failed to connect" had its cause: I have a WD Passport (external drive), which was disconnected after a while.

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I've had a similar problem, but it doesn't happen every 10-15 seconds. I found my solution here: What is the source of this funny noise in Windows?

This is due to dog avatar in the Windows Search Results window. If you click on him, he scratches himself. But if you ignore him (apparently) he occasionally scratches himself, which causes an intermittent noise.

Also: http://www.audiomastersforum.net/amforum/index.php/topic,5527.0/wap2.html

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I guess you meant: What is the source of this funny noise in Windows? –  slhck Sep 21 '11 at 9:49
@slhck sorry, Yes. I found that SU question too, after posting my answer here. Should have come back and linked to it. Thanks –  CJBrew Sep 21 '11 at 10:52
@slhck, edited my post. –  CJBrew Sep 21 '11 at 10:56

In my case a USB flash drive was causing it.
Unplugged it then re-installed it. That seems to have been the cause.

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Solution to the 'duh dum' sound at startup:

If you wish, you can check this link where i am copying from:


Easy one-click solution told by Maincoon11:

All this uninstalling /reinstalling check disk, etc , was absolutely unnecessary! Windows 7 has a search program and files toolbar (located on the left bottom corner) after you press start button on windows( just below) All Files. If you go to start and type on search toolbar Devices, Windows gives you choices, amongst them was one command " Find and Fix Problems with Devices". When you click on it, Windows searches for problems. it did find E F,G:\,H:\errors, one by one it fixed it. That's all!

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I had the same and tried disconnecting my devices one by one until the noise stopped. It was a printer I had recently re-downloaded a driver for. I then reconnected the device and switched it on. This triggered Windows 7 to install the driver and now all is silence.

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