soundcard acting weird

[Don]

Hi,

I am running Windows XP Pro on a Dell lap top that has
ESS Mastro PCI Audio sound card. Starting roughly about a
month ago, every time I boot my computer, I can't listen
to any sound of my soundcard. However, if I go to Device
manager, uninstall the soundcard in the list, do a scan
for hardware changes (the driver is already in there),
then I canlistne to it. Dell wouldn't support it since
they say the sound card is working and not defective.
They claim that it is drivers and Windows issue. I
already reinstalled Windows XP from fresh but same thing
happens. Anyone has any ideas? Thanks.

Don

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP-Windows Shell/User\)]

Have you checked for updated drivers for the soundcard? Was this soundcard
supplied with your system or did you add it later?