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Dell Computer and JAWS Bug

Does Windows become sluggish, applications close or crash, or virtual memory errors appear on your Dell computer?

Freedom Scientific Technical Support shares about this bug and a work-around solution.

Short Description

On Dell computers, Windows becomes sluggish, Virtual memory errors appear, or applications unexpectedly close or crash when Waves MaxxAudio Service is running.

Problem

If your Dell PC or laptop uses the Waves MaxxAudio Service for its onboard audio chipset, problems may occur the longer you use the computer. Windows may become sluggish. Applications such as JAWS or Microsoft Teams may close or crash unexpectedly. Virtual memory errors might occur.

See the Detailed Description section link below before continuing to the Solution if you wish to have more background information.

Solution

To disable or enable the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application:

  1. Open Task Manager (the shortcut is CTRL+SHIFT+ESC).
  2. Press the TAB key once. If this navigates to More Details, then press the SPACEBAR to show more details. 
  3. Navigate to the Startup tab. 
  4. Navigate to the list of items table. 
  5. Type w to navigate to the items starting with the letter w. 
  6. Press the DOWN ARROW key, if needed to navigate to Waves MaxxAudio Service Application. If it is not in the list, then this is not the cause of the problem. 
  7. With Waves MaxxAudio Service Application selected, press ALT+A to disable it. 
  8. Restart the computer.
  9. Use the computer for a few hours or so, without rebooting, until you are convinced the performance issues no longer exist. This may take several sessions. 
  10. If the problem persists and you want to reenable Waves MaxxAudio Service Application, follow steps 1 through 8 but in step 8, press ALT+N to enable it. 

Note: The only real downside to disabling the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application is that the PC will no longer dynamically respond to plugging in a different output audio device. For example, if you plug in headphones, the computer will not use them until rebooting. 

Detailed Description Link

 

By Diane Brauner

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