big sound problems

[Guest]

I am having weird problems with the sound on my computer. The sound control
icon at the bottom of my screen dissapeared. I cannot hear anything from the
sound output I connect speakers to. If I open Winamp to listen to music, it
wont even play. It says no driver found (somethign like that). Some
videogames I cannot even start up because it says I dont have a sound card or
driver is messed up.

I did go and find a new driver for my sound card. Installed it. My device
manager says that there is nothing wrong with it. But I uninstalled it
anyways, first time I did it, windows automatically added the wrong driver
for it. So I rolled back, then uninstalled and installed the new correct
driver. Device manager says there is no problem with it.
I ran Dxdiag (directX) and it can locate my sound card, I dont have a
driver, so I cannot run the test. The weird thing about that is that it does
show the driver I am using and it is the right one for my sound card.
I really dont get what is wrong with this computer...
Someone plz help!!

 

[Guest]

Oh yes I also forgot to add that the only thing I can think of that changed
on my computer was that Windows did a bunch of updates, I did a spyware scan,
few programs got put on

 

[Sharon F]

I am having weird problems with the sound on my computer. The sound control
icon at the bottom of my screen dissapeared. I cannot hear anything from the
sound output I connect speakers to. If I open Winamp to listen to music, it
wont even play. It says no driver found (somethign like that). Some
videogames I cannot even start up because it says I dont have a sound card or
driver is messed up.

I did go and find a new driver for my sound card. Installed it. My device
manager says that there is nothing wrong with it. But I uninstalled it
anyways, first time I did it, windows automatically added the wrong driver
for it. So I rolled back, then uninstalled and installed the new correct
driver. Device manager says there is no problem with it.
I ran Dxdiag (directX) and it can locate my sound card, I dont have a
driver, so I cannot run the test. The weird thing about that is that it does
show the driver I am using and it is the right one for my sound card.
I really dont get what is wrong with this computer...
Someone plz help!!

Check the usual:
-cables connected properly
-if self powered speakers, check that they are receiving power
-if separate volume control on speakers, make sure it is on and dialed "up"
-state of mute control - didn't accidentally hit mute on keyboard, for
example

Usually if the sound card has failed, Device Manager will not "see" the
card so it's likely to be one of these other things that is not quite
right.

If no luck, check audio settings in any programs you've used recently:
Media Player, Real Player, whatever. Sometimes running these "takes
control" of volume. You may find it's muted or dialed down in the
application. If you do find something like this, of course, change the
settings so you get sound again. But also check the programs "Preferences"
or "Options" for a setting that relinquishes control of the volume back to
the operating system.

 

[Guest]

You know, I feel a little dumb, but thanks for the help Sharon.
I scratched my head and really thought about what I could have done to make
this happen, like how can the driver work and my computer be picking it up,
and yet it still doesn't work. Then I remember I went into msconfig and for
some reason turned stopped one of the services, thinking it was somthing
else... doh!
Sorry for wasting you ppl's time

 

[Sharon F]

You know, I feel a little dumb, but thanks for the help Sharon.
I scratched my head and really thought about what I could have done to make
this happen, like how can the driver work and my computer be picking it up,
and yet it still doesn't work. Then I remember I went into msconfig and for
some reason turned stopped one of the services, thinking it was somthing
else... doh!
Sorry for wasting you ppl's time

No problem and no need to apologize! Computers are complex. It's *very*
easy for a little detail to slip through the cracks when trying to
troubleshoot a problem. Always start with the basics and work your way up
to more complex possibilities.