1) Make sure you have the latest drivers for the Sounblaster
2) Try different sound quality settings
ProAsm at
This often happens with older cards and modern PCs.
Click on - 'Start' then 'Run' then type in 'DxDiag' - click 'OK'
When the window comes up click on the 'Sounds' tab.
Set the 'Hardware Sound Acceleration Level' to read 'Basic Acceleration'
akimmet at
If you have a sound blaster and a via chipset, you are pretty much screwed. I haven't found a way to make it go away (other than a new motherboard).