Troubleshooting suggestions: sound goes dead

[Meano.Culpa]

Selected HW/SW:
Home-built Athlon 2500+ on EPoX VIA KT880 board using onboard Realtek
AC97 audio
Fresh install of WinXP SP2, updates current per Windows Update
DirectX 9.0c
3.99 drivers from Realtek website

Symptoms:
First noticed when sound completely turned off after running Diablo 2.
Sound stayed off until reboot.
On reboot, ran dxdiag.exe. Computer failed DirectSound tests and
locked up ("Not Responding") the dxdiag application, but did not lock
up the computer.
On further reboot, ran dxdiag and dropped acceleration in DirectSound.
Still locked up dxdiag ("Not Responding"). Repeated until acceleration
was disabled.

What I've tried:
Cursory google searches indicate the later Realtek drivers are flaky.
I hoped to roll back to an earlier version, but (1) there doesn't
appear to be an uninstall utility, (2) running the Add/Remove control
panel causes the computer to barf and (3) running the installer for
the previous Realtek driver version causes the computer to barf.

I know this isn't enough for a comprehensive diagnosis but would
appreciate any pointers. OS reinstall would be too time-consuming for
the benefit, so I would disable the sound and leave the computer
silent if an OS reinstall is the only thing to try.

Thanks for reading.

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

Try rolling back to an earlier System Restore point
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore

Or manually rolling back the driver
Start > Run > Devmgmt.msc > OK > Sound, video and game controller > (select
sound card) > right-click > Properties > Driver (Tab) > Roll Back Driver

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