No sound after clean install of XP

[whiz]

Hi All,
Some advice needed please before my pubescent teenage son drives me bonkers. A few weeks ago his hard drive crashed, a lot of the data was recoverable but the final fix required a new HDD and a clean install of XP. The PC is now up and running normally with most of his old files recovered and in place but Im buggered if I can get the thing to play sound. It wont play any sounds at all not even the default windows 'booting up' fanfare. I have tried downloading drivers from both the XP disc and from the net, neither of which made any difference. I have gone through the start-control panel-sounds and audio devices procedure and ticked the 'use only default devices' box again this made no difference. I have had a look on the motherboard where the speaker jack plugs in but I cant see any manufacturers name so Im not even sure if the drivers I have downloaded are suitable or not. I am now out of ideas and rapidly being driven to distraction cos he cant listen to his itunes innit !
Anyone point me in the right direction ?
Thanks in advance
PS Yes I have ensured the speakers are powered up and are plugged into the correct place

[Background Noise]

Without the speakers do you get ANY system sounds? I think sounds is in control panel/sounds and audio and then the sounds tab. Highlight an event, then click the 'play' (triangle) button.

You probably need a driver or 2 for the motherboard. Have you gone through a windows update cycle, that usually highlights drivers missing from your setup. There's a fairly generic driver called something like AC97.

[whiz]

Without the speakers do you get ANY system sounds? I think sounds is in control panel/sounds and audio and then the sounds tab. Highlight an event, then click the 'play' (triangle) button.

You probably need a driver or 2 for the motherboard. Have you gone through a windows update cycle, that usually highlights drivers missing from your setup. There's a fairly generic driver called something like AC97.

Yes I have tried those sounds and they dont play either. AC97 is the driver that is installed at the moment as Im sure thats what it was before. Windows itself is fully up to date.

[stickyb]

Most motherboards come with a utility disc that needs to be run after xp installation - that should give you the sound etc.

[Parapunter]

Click start, find my computer, right click it, select manage from the dialogue box, from the window that opens, select device manager & look under the sound video & game controller tab.

If there is an audio device or soundcard fitted to the pc & I'm assuming there is since you had sound before, it is likely to be listed there.

If as is most likely, you are missing a driver, it will have either a red line or a yellow symbol by it on the list. Click on it to open it & under the general tab of the device, windows will tell you its status. From there, you can choose to update driver or enable the device or do whatever it is that you need to do to get it working.

As it's a fresh install of xp, the overwhelming likelihood is that you need a driver, so be ready with either the utlilities disc or the internet connection to go and download one.

[whiz]

Thanks for the reply parapunter, I am at work at the moment but I'll try what you suggest when I get home. :ok:

[tony draper]

Had similar probs, prviously had always installed a soundblaster card and ran the sound blaster driver disk,didn't bother with that as this new machine I built as it has a 5.1 sound card built into the motherboard,couldn't get a peep out of the buggah until I thought to run the CD that came with the motherboard,that had the drivers for the onboard sound on it,you may have to select which sound device you are going to use in Bios though.

[greenbroker]

Are you sure the speakers are not muted? Right-click on the speaker icon in the Taskbar and select 'open volume control' and make sure that the checkboxes are unchecked.

Open Control Panel and double-click the 'System' icon. Select the 'hardware' tab and click on the 'advanced' button. Expand the tree 'sound, video and game controllers'.

You might see a yellow coloured icon in the list suggesting that there might be a missing driver or similar.

[Parapunter]

That's a pair of good points! If in device manager you see two audio devices, disable one. Usually you would have onboard audio (AC97 at a guess) and a soundcard - disable the onboard - your sound card will be higher quality.

I once had no sound from the left channel, I updated drivers, tried swapping cards, reinstalled the software, the lot. In the end, it turned out I had the fader turned round so one channel was out!:ugh:

[NutLoose]

Had this problem before whizz......... even though all your sound settings are up it was the media player, open media player and turn its volume up, it will be set at low..... for some reason when that on mine was turned right down, nothing else would work even though all the other settings were correct.

Hope it helps

[simountain1]

try driverguide.com
its not free but you can download a tool which tells you which drivers are corrupt and what your missing.
It will tell you the manufacturer of the sound card. Google the sound card manufacture and product code and download the driver for it and install it
If all else fails goto the manufactures site of your PC they tend to keep drivers for download

[mart52]

Don't know if this is any help....
A couple of months ago I re-installed XP on my home built late 2003 vintage AMD 2700+ machine (still my favourite PC actually...)
No sounds of any kind on this until I sort of remermbered that the onboard sound needed the original motherboard installation disc (included the needed drivers) - problem fixed! (although I'm sure if I knew what I was looking for, I could have found them on the web)
Regards
Martin