XP Pro - Windows cannot play the ..... file.

[Aaron Kolega]

I have installed windows xp professional on a PC with an ATI all-in-wonder
TV tuner video card and a Fortissimo II sound card. I have downloaded and
installed the latest drivers for my hardware components. For some reason, I
cannot get any sound to play on this PC. Actually, the windows login sound
plays when the computer first starts up, but nothing else after that. When
I go to the "Sounds" utility in the control panel and try playing windows
sounds, I get the following error:

Windows cannot play the %SystemRoot%\media\Windows XP Error.wav file. It
may be damaged or may not be a valid sound file. Replace the file and try
again.

I have reinstalled the OS a couple times and get the same problem each time.
I always download the latest drivers for all my hardware, download and
install all the latest updates for XP, and even flashed my bios with the
latest version. Does anyone have any idea why I might be getting this
problem and how to resolve it?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[Andrew Murray]

The fact that *any* sound plays at all indicates the sound card is OK (it
would seem).

Have you checked the hardware device manager, to see if that is returning an
error to the effect "this device is working properly" (or not....)?

Have you tried a CD or DVD in your dvd/cd drive?

I assume this is the hardware you're referring to
http://www.bytewizecomputers.com/products/7/3/4/1472 (sound card)
and
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=ATI+all-in-wonder+TV+card&hl=en&sa=X&oi=froogle&ct=title
(video card)
??

Other things to check would be the cables attached to the drives such as the
audio cable (from sound card to the cd drive), the IDE and/or SATA(?) ribbon
cable and the power cables on the CD drive. (this means taking cover off the
case and checking).

Sorry I can't suggest much else.

 

[Aaron Kolega]

You were correct about my hardware (ATI is the 7500). I bought all of this
hardware a few years back so it isn't exactly the latest stuff, but it all
came out after XP was in the marketplace. I had this in a system up until
about 6 months ago, I can't remember if I had XP home or professional at
that time, but it worked.

I will try hooking up the CD player to the sound card. I never had any
intentions of playing music CDs from the drive so I didn't connect it. Do
you think that will matter? Or were you just suggesting another way to test
sound?

thanks,
Aaron