Chosen Solution
The speakers of my laptop begin to emit a good amount of static whenever I play the volume at a moderate-high volume. When I use headphones, the audio is fine so it must be the speakers.
This problem is almost definitely a hardware issue, however you can try reinstalling the sound card driver found on Gateway’s website: http://www.gateway.com/gw/en/US/content/…. If this doesn’t work, you need to consider replacing the speakers or seeing if your laptop is still under the factory warranty.
