Office 2007 update KB974234 causing Windows 7 audio crash

I thought I'd mention what happened and how to possibly avoid it.

I was running Windows 7x64 ultimate and was experiencing severe audio crashes - the system would hang completely and I had to reset the machine.

Initially I thought i-tunes was the culprit, but when irfanview 4.25 crashed in an identical manner whilst playing an mp3 file I realised the problem was more subtle.

I re-installed the OS and drivers, installed microsoft update and then removed internet explorer, media player and media centre (I mention this just in case it is a contributory factor).

I re-installed itunes and irfanview and found no unexpected problems. I then added my apps one-by-one (re-booting each time). After installing Office 2007 SP2 (I installed word & excel only) I added the Microsoft Office Word, Excel & System Security updates one-by-one in chronological order (re-booting each time).

The system became unstable when I installed Microsoft Office System Security update KB974234. On removing it, stability returned - however I must add that on my original unstable image, removing KB974234 did not restore stability.

Has anyone encountered this problem before?

 

Yes my drivers are up to date. This problem occurs whether I use Microsoft's version of the drivers or the latest version from the manufacturer (Realtek 2.37 - on-board sound alc662).

It may be possible that there is a problem with the 64-bit sound drivers no matter what the version (I have had no problems with XP SP3 and this update - same system) or the update just does not like the driver, either way until it is resolved not installing the update is the only way forward.

 

I think I have solved the problem.

This crash appears to be some kind of cocktail effect with KB974234 and Avira (free version).

However, after crashing the system by playing music (i-Tunes or Irfanview), I uninstalled Avira and then re-installed it and the system REMAINED stable.

Curiously, if I uninstalled and re-installed Avira without forcing a crash, the system would still crash when I played music. But after this crash if I uninstalled and re-installed Avira, the system became stable - it appears that the crash is required to sort things out!

I don't know or care why, but at least it's working.

 

The problem re-appeared yesterday - I think it was triggered by an Avira update.

I have removed Avira and am auditioning Avast (free version). No problems after 5 hours (hopefully that is the end of the story).

 

I have only ever been using one AV. I have just uninstalled Avira and replaced it with Avast.

Currently I am using the MS version drivers, they seem to be fine at the moment - but as I have mentioned I have removed Avira. But at some point I will try Realtek version 2.38 with Avira and Office.

I honestly don't know whether the problem is the driver, Avira or a cocktail with Office, Avira and the driver.