TechNote

Freeze or crash when you start on a system with Realtek HD Audio ( Windows XP)

Issue

When you start Adobe After Effects, Audition, Encore DVD, Photoshop, Premiere Elements, Premiere Pro, or Soundbooth, one or more of the following occurs:

The system reboots followed by the warning message, "The system has recovered from a serious error".
The system displays the blue-screen error message, "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down..." "Stop: 0X000000C5" or "Stop: 0x0000008E"

Reason

You use a Realtek High Definition Audio integrated sound card (part of the motherboard chipset) as the primary sound card.

Note: This sound card is also referred to as Intel High Definition Audio.

Solution

Install an updated Realtek device driver.

Download version R1.33 (or later) of the Realtek device driver installer from the Realtek website at www.realtek.com.tw.

Note: Previous versions of this driver may not fix this problem. Make sure that you download version R1.33 of the installer or later, and the driver version installed is 5.10.0.5229 or later.

To check the driver version:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > System.
From the System Properties window, select the Hardware Tab and click the Device Manager button to open the Device Manager window.
Click the "+" next to the listing "Sound, Video and game controllers" to expand the section.
Right-click on the Realtek High Definition Audio item and choose Properties.
Click the Driver tab and verify that the Driver Version is 5.10.0.5229 or later.
Close the Device Manager and System Properties windows.

Additional Information

When Adobe After Effects, Audition, Encore, Photoshop, Premiere Elements, Premiere Pro, or Soundbooth launch, they parse all available audio drivers in an attempt to load them for use. Early releases of Realtek High Definition Audio drivers are incompatible with these Adobe products, and the Windows XP operating system's ability to release control of the driver.