This is XP Sp2, C2D 6400, 2 GB RAM, Asus P5LD2 MoBo with RealTek
High Definition audio device.

After installing some audio software (NCH Swift Sound suite
www.nch.com.au), the Realtek sound device was dead. Checking
'Sounds and Audio Devices' in the control panel, I get 'no audio
device', all buttons and boxes there are greyed out. DVD-Writer,
DVD-ROM and WebCam not recognized anymore.

I uninstalled those in Device Manager, then running the Add
Hardware wizard brought them back to life but not Realtek.
Uninstalled all NCH software and cleaned the registry, to no
avail, the sound device is still dead. Device is enabled, driver
info says it's working properly, properties are set to 'use
audio features .. use mixer features .. etc .. on this device'.

Any hint as to what to try next much appreciated.

>> the sound device is still dead. Device is enabled, driver
>> info says it's working properly, properties are set to 'use
>> audio features .. use mixer features .. etc .. on this device'.
>>
>> Any hint as to what to try next much appreciated.
>
> Have you tried reinstalling your Realtek drivers from the CD that came
> with your computer?
>
> Have you gone to the Realtek website to find them?


No I did not. Will try it after some hours of sleep and report
back. Thank you in the meantime.

> Have you tried reinstalling your Realtek drivers from the CD that came
> with your computer?
>
> Have you gone to the Realtek website to find them?

OK, I'm back. I got the latest drivers from Asus (this is what
Realtek recommend on their site) and installed them. The sound
device stays dead.
Seems impossible that a software installation would physically
kill a device, doesn't it?

PD43 wrote:
> APawlik <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>> Have you tried reinstalling your Realtek drivers from the CD that came
>>> with your computer?
>>>
>>> Have you gone to the Realtek website to find them?
>> OK, I'm back. I got the latest drivers from Asus (this is what
>> Realtek recommend on their site) and installed them. The sound
>> device stays dead.
>> Seems impossible that a software installation would physically
>> kill a device, doesn't it?
>
> Also... have you checked with the support on the website where you
> downloaded the program from?


They are very slow. No answer yet.

I found the explanation in the driver properties "driver is
enabled but has not been started". So, one minor question left:
how to start a driver?

> Also... have you checked with the support on the website where you
> downloaded the program from?


The "driver is enabled but has not been started" problem seems
to have caused all kinds of annoyances already. Googling the
phrase brings up lots of discussions with or without solutions,
most of them not working for me.
However, one of them finally brought my sound back. I had to
install the Plug and Play Software Enumerator which does not
seem to be present in every XP installation and was missing in
mine, of course.

Thank you again for your time.