Devldr Devldr.exe
(Creative Labs) Found on Windows 2000/XP. It really does
not matter how Creative call this task/service, DEVLDR,
DEVLDR16, or DEVLDR32, it is a thorough nightmare whatever
its name, and DEVLDR does not disappoint. What does this
task do - we do not know, it is such a frustrating task we
care little about what it does.
Recommendation :
"Not responding" on shutdown or problems at startup are the
most common problems associated with this task. There are
some workarounds that sometimes work. For both Windows
2000 and XP a solution that often works is to remove all
sound items from "Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \
Device Manager", de-install any Creative SoundBlaster
software from "Add/Remove Programs", then search your hard
disk for DEVLDR.EXE and rename or delete it, then
delete/disable it in "Control Panel \ Administrative Tools
\ Services", and finally download and install the latest
SoundBlaster Live software. Under Windows XP, instead of
installing the latest SoundBlaster Live software you can
opt to restart your PC, and when prompted for the drivers
for the re-detected soundcard, use the Windows XP CD so
that the XP drivers are used rather than the Creative
drivers (the same sometimes works with Windows 2000 SP3,
although no CD is required in that case). Walking away
from Creative Labs has also been suggested to us as an
option...
Devldr16
Devldr16.exe
(Creative Labs)
Background task installed with the drivers for some
Creative Labs sound cards - it provides SoundBlaster 16
emulation for DOS applications and games. Without it, your
DOS games will not have any sound. Disabling this program,
however, often gives problems with the general behaviour of
sound and of the Creative sound utilities on your PC.
Recommendation :
This is another Creative program which is the cause of many
frustrations for AnswersThatWork users. Once upon a time
"Creative Labs" used to be synonymous with quality ! Some
users experience unexplained crashes of this program where
it is impossible to clear it off the screen; others
experience occasional to total inability to start Windows
98/ME; some find that their modem no longer works
properly; others experience strange behaviour of their
software (Photoshop); others find that menus do not open
up when clicking on them and that the only way to recover
is to restart; some find that the mouse pointer
disappears, till a reboot; some experience unexplained
general instability problems; the list goes on. Shocking!
For the technically minded all these problems are due to
the fact that DEVLDR16 emulates old ISA sound cards which
do not have the ability to share resources in the way that
the newer PCI cards can. If you do not use DOS games, and
you want to get rid of this task, the only way we have
found to safely disable this task is as follows :
1) Disable on the Startups tab of The Ultimate
Troubleshooter.
2) Next, in Device Manager (through the SYSTEM icon in the
Control Panel), in the Sound section or under "Creative
Miscellaneous Devices", disable Creative SB16 Emulation.
Note, however, that this is not necessarily possible on all
PCs where DEVLDR16 can be found - sometimes the only way
out of this nightmare is to get a new sound card !
