AWKWARD ZOMBIE

I got a USB to MIDI cable so I could connect my keyboard to my laptop and record stuff but it doesn’t work properly. I mean it recognises my keyboard and all but when I try to record stuff in Mixcraft it doesn’t register a bunch of the keys unless I like press them repeatedly or something and it’ll often make weird noises as though I’m pressing low keys even though I’m not. My dad says it might be something to do with the driver but my laptop says the driver’s the best avaliable? It automatically downloaded when I plugged the thing in so I don’t know. He also said it might be because my keyboard’s getting on in years (it’s only a Casio CTK-691, nothing too fancy) but I hope that isn’t the case.

You mentioned that other programs on your computer are also having sound issues; have you tried the keyboard on a different computer?

Also I saw that your computer automatically found drivers but sometimes the ones Windows finds aren't actually the newest; you should try searching around for newer drivers.

Nope, only on my laptop. I might be able to see if I can test it on my housemate's laptop but I don't think she really has any suitable programs apart from Audacity. As for the driver I tried looking around but I'm honestly not sure what to be looking for. I did find a relevant-sounding CASIO driver but it was only for the 32-bit version of Windows Vista/7 and I apparently have 64-bit (whatever that means), so.

Yeah, 32/64 bit differences can screw you over a lot. That could be the issue, actually. There's a chance that the 32 bit one will work with a 64 bit OS, though, in which case you may as well try installing the newest one you found online.

I did try installing the 32-bit one since at the time I wasn't sure what I actually had, but it told me that I had to run the 64-bit version, which they didn't have. According to this page there isn't really a 64-bit version, but as I said I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for so this might not even be the right sort of driver. @_@

I'm assuming you've searched for your specific model number, so yeah I'd say the 64-bit thing is your problem.
This doesn't account for the other programs acting weird, though, unless the driver you installed went really bad?

Try uninstalling the driver, that might fix your other audio problems, and see if you can find a 32-bit computer somewhere to try your keyboard there?

The general sound-messing-up thing has been going on for a while actually (since around this time last year I think), so I'm not really sure what caused that to start happening. I can't really do a lot in regards to trying other computers at the moment though since neither of my housemates are in and only one of them has a working laptop. I don't really have a lot of options at the moment I guess, unless I take my keyboard and the cable into the studio with me. x_o

Oh, yeah, that does make a difference. Just wait it out I guess?
After they get home, assuming they have a 32 bit os, you can see if the problem is with your machine or your keyboard or whatever.
Worse comes to worse, you could try partitioning your hard drive and installing a 32 bit os to dual boot?
An older version of windows would be out of the question, since you have to work your way up when installing multiple systems to ensure they don't overwrite bits of the other ones. You could try something like ubuntu, though, which I'd imagine great for creative purposes like music.

sounds like they didn't make a 64 bit driver to encourage you to upgrade to a newer keyboard.

I'll probably have to get my dad to have a look at it next time I see him, since he knows a lot more about this sort of thing than I do. @_@ In any case, thanks for the help. :>

I think I've fixed my problem?

Went and deleted all that browsing history shit and that seems like it did the trick but I dunno specifically which one was doing it

Guess I should have done that first huh

Okay, this sounds pretty strange, but ever since my dad roped me into upgrading my version of ZoneAlarm, whenever I decide to go shut down my computer after what appears to be closing out a video, my computer freezes. Well actually it doesn't freeze, but it runs ridiculously slow to where shutting down takes over half an hour (rather than half a minute) to do. I'm forced to do a hard shut down because I can't simply hang around for that long while my computer is derping it up.

And also, and this is just merely a cosmetic issue as far as I'm seeing it, for nearly over a year now, sometimes when I go out of hibernation my desktop background, icons, buttons, etc. will glitch up into a scrambled mess. I've learned that it's probably due to the fact that my graphics card is trying to deal with too much RAM and for some reason or another may corrupt(?) specific things unless I either refresh whatever's glitched up or restart my computer. Though sometimes, even when I'm not even doing anything graphics intensive, go to hibernation, and then return later, I still might get garbled graphics. It's really just more of a thorn in my side than anything, but I'm wondering if it could be the graphics card unable to reload everything (which seems to be in a specific area), the RAM chips installed, the motherboard going into old age (or not, considering the problem hasn't gotten worse over time)

I am thinking that my computer is beginning to get pretty old though it's still ironically the most powerful machine in the house. It's 7 years old at about this point.

Do a virus scan, open it and clean out the dust, etc. etc.

Did all of that. No dice.

Your computer is pretty old, might be getting tired.

I swear to god if that part about dice was a pun with your avatar