Been running windows xp for years now all of a sudden these speakers are going crazy with the popping. Recent addition was a router for my high speed maybe two feet from the cpu. all is pugged in to the surge. Could this be the culprit, or does anybody have a fix.

If you turn the router off, do you still have the "popping?" If you do, I wouldn't blame the router.

I've had the same issue before. A wireless router next to speakers that aren't shielded or just not shielded properly will yield all sorts of interference coming through the speakers.

Is the router you are using a wireless router?

If it is, to test whether it is the culprit, simply disable the wireless portion of the router, or unplug it and test your speakers.

The only real fix is to move the router or speakers further away from each other, or get speakers with better shielding.

I recently had a similar issue. My 6 year-old wireless router got toasted by lightning (even though it was on a surge protector) and I had to get a new one. I starting having buzzing and crackling in my speakers. I keep an old pair of speakers around for troubleshooting and got the same result with them. When I disabled the router, it stopped. I then tried switching from my Creative X-Fi sound card to the on-board sound and that works with the wireless router on.

Unless you have a spare set of speakers to help you troubleshoot, it could be a process of elimination.

Thank You for the reply. It is not a wireless router and I did shut it down and remove any devices from the surge not pertaining to the cpu. Still with the popping. I have notice that the popping only starts and continues when I paly the game URU Path to the Shell. I know, I still love that game. I have a creative Audigy2 sound card and the latest drivers. My system is 5.1 stero hooked in a sub woofer where all the speakers are plugged into. It is clean with no dust or dirt. I did have to change my Power Supply to beef up the wattage to play better games. Games where fine after the Power Supply for around six months now the occasional or sometimes continuous popping noise.

If turning off the router has no effect, the router can't be to blame.

I wonder if your antivirus could be causing a problem by doing real time scanning while you're playing.

Are you playing the online version of Uru or the boxed version?