White Noise bursts (and clicks and pops) with Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8

[Mr.BC]

Hi Fella's,
This is my 1st post. Why am I posting? Because like most of you, I'm frustrated, and mad as hell. In fact, I couldn't help but lol when I read some of the posts, because I know EXACTLY how some of you feel. I have to admit, I thought I was smarter than most of you. That's why I was laughing. But I've offcially joined the club, now we're all in the same boat. You see, I'm a computer tech by trade. I earn my living as a systems analyst / network engineer, and I've been doing it for 15 years. I'm also a songwriter/musician, and have had a home studio almost all my life. So I KNEW BETTER than to introduce computer technology into my studio. I WORK ON COMPUTERS. I know the headaches and frustration a simple change or update can cause. I KNOW about compatibility issues. And I wanted NO PARTS of that mess in the studio. BUT... it's 2010. And I felt like it was time to "get up to speed" with technology. I had avoided it as long as I could, but it was time to "take the plunge"; sooo...I went out and bought Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8! WELL... I've been frustrated and MAD eversince.

I 1st installed PT/MPE8 on my laptop, heard the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL, RANDOM BURST OF WHITE NOISE, and figured I need a PC that met the system requirements. Mine didn't. So I went out and bought a new/used PC to compliment the software. Guess what! ...I STILL have the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL BURST OF WHITE NOISE!
I've had PT/ME8 all of 3 weeks, and I can't even get a damn demo song to play without the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL, RANDOM BURST OF WHITE NOISE. This is EXACTLY the type of $h!t I wanted to avoid!

Apparently Avid is aware of this issue (and the potential for ear and equipment damage), as they've published patches to correct it with Pro Tools HD, SE, and LE I've learned. I don't know that the patches work, considering all the posts Im still seeing for the problem. However, (and this just adds "insult to injury"); I have NOT seen a thread, NOR has Avid created a patch for PT/MPE8 users. Am I the only user with PT/MPE8 who is having this issue?? There seems to be plenty of people with HD and LE having this problem. I've read through this forum as if my life depended on it, and I haven't seen a successful fix anywhere. At least not for PT/MPE8 users.

I feel like Avid ripped me off. If this many people are having an issue with random bursts of white noise, then obviously the product is defective. They've made patches for HD and LE, but what about me? I'm stuck with something that doesn't work? After I paid my money? The only thing I can say is that I'm EXTREMELY glad that I didn't splurge, and opt for a costlier Pro Tools package. I wish I had read through this, and various other forums for a period before buying. But I will in the future, before I spend another freakin DIME on Pro Tools anything! Thanks for letting me vent. ...and if you know something that I don't know, please share it and help a fella out. Thanks again!

BTW, this is my platform;
Dell Optiplex 280, 40gb HDD, 1.49gb RAM, Intel Pentium (4) 2.80ghz - Windows XP/sp3 (2002 version) - Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8, M-Audio FastTrack USB interface (XP optimization per Avid Audio guidelines, Adobe Quicktime 7.6.8) No other known conflicting hardware or software, no external drives.