How to eliminate smwdm driver problems
The smwdm.sys (SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio) file is a Windows driver. Generally, drivers are used by Windows to enable internal components like graphic cards and drives, or external devices, such as printers, backup media or input devices.Click here to check if you need to update your smwdm driver.
The smwdm.sys process is also known as SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio and is a part of SoundMAX Digital Audio Driver or, as the case may be, smwdm. This software is produced by Analog Devices (www.analog.com). An obsolete or defective version of smwdm.sys can cause problems for your computer that can range from slowness to error messages such as these:
- SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio has stopped working. Windows is checking for a solution to the problem... (Windows 10, 8, 7)
- SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available. (Windows 10, 8, 7)
- smwdm.sys has encountered a problem and needs to close. (Windows XP)
- Access violation at address FFFFFFFF in module smwdm.sys. Read of address 00000000.
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What you should know about smwdm.sys SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
smwdm.sys is not part of Windows, but it is important nonetheless. Smwdm.sys is found in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory.
Frequently occurring are file sizes such as 260,224 bytes (28% of all these files), 260,352 bytes as well as 7 other variants.
If necessary, you can manually stop or start this driver in the Device Manager. The Device Manager can be found in Windows Control Panel under Hardware and Sound/Devices and Printers/Device Manager. The driver facilitates access to your computer's hardware and accessories.
This particular software does not appear as a visible window, but only in Task Manager. The service has no characteristics or description of its own. This is unusual. The smwdm file is not part of the Windows operating system. The file has been digitally signed by Microsoft itself to guarantee its authenticity.
smwdm.sys appears to be a file that was compressed by an EXE-Packer. This technique is often used by trojans to keep the file size small and also hamper debugging efforts. However, this in itself is not sufficient reason to presume malicious intent, since even well-intentioned, professional software producers take advantage of compressed files.
For this reason, 18% of all experts consider this file to be a possible threat. The probability that it can cause harm is high.
If you see this file on your hard drive or in Windows Task Manager, please make sure that it is not a malicious variant. It's a fact that many trojans try to cloak their true identity by calling themselves smwdm.sys. With the above information or by using tools like Security Task Manager you can determine if, in your case, the file is an undesirable variant.
What do other computer users say about smwdm?
| its is a driver for a audio card, from soundmax | |
| it sucks and is a bad virus | |
| its a drive for soundmax souncard, in my case, integrated into my A7V880 Chris Merriman | |
| audio card driver rocket | |
| It is a driver for the audio card. If you delete it, you will not get any sound. I tried and that is what happened. I reloaded the sound files as new, and had the same problem. It is coming up as an error when trying to run WINDVD7 Platinum on my laptop. Neither Intervideo nor myself have been able to resolve the problem. Mike |
Summary: 25 users judge smwdm.sys to be an essential file that should not be touched. 5 users consider it harmless. However, 2 users consider this to be a suspicious process and would like to get rid of it. For this reason, one user has already deleted smwdm.sys. source: file.net
How to uninstall SoundMAX Digital Audio Driver or smwdm
To remove SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio from your computer, please follow the manual instructions below or use an automatic uninstaller product.
- Click the Windows Start Button. In Windows 8, look for Control Panel.
- Click Control Panel.
- Click Uninstall a program.
- Look for SoundMAX Digital Audio Driver or smwdm in the list of available programs.
- Click Uninstall.
How to tell if smwdm.sys (SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio) was uninstalled cleanly
After uninstalling, restart your computer. Then start Windows Explorer and see if there is still a folder with the name of the software under C:\Program Files. Be sure to check the Registry as well for remnants of SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio. To do this, start "Regedit", then look under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > "Software" for SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio or the name of the producer. Always keep in mind that only a computer professional should ever directly delete entries in the Windows Registry.
What to do if a program does not uninstall
The easiest way to remove any kind of software cleanly and accurately is to use an uninstaller tool. Because the uninstaller automatically creates a backup, there is no risk of anything going wrong.
Last but not least
If Windows not working quite right for you, or if startup is taking a long time, or smwdm.sys is causing problems for you, a good Windows diagnostic tool may very well help. This is especially effective when it comes to older computers that have accumulated vast quantities of "garbage data" as the result of many software installs and uninstalls.
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