Soundmax Audio for Dell Dimension 4700

I'm having a hell of a time trying to get the audio on my Dell Dimension 4700 desktop to work. Everything checks out, but there is just no sound. I didn't think I had to redownload the driver, as the current one said it was working properly, but I downloaded it anyway, from Dell's web site, just in case. When my computer started back up, I received the error message: "DSndUP error: No ADI codec driver is installed". I also tested the sound, and it still didn't work.

Then I tried to run Dell Diagnostics, to check the audio adapter, but kept getting the error message, "! A problem has been detected. Please try again". I don't know what would cause that. My system had been running fine before I moved several months ago. I also tried System Restore, but it would only let me go as far back as a week ago, and even then it would report, "System Restore did not complete successfully, no settings on your computer have been changed."

Can anyone help me figure out how to get the sound back? The only thing I've run across that I didn't try yet was to adjust BIOS. I'm afraid to get into that without exhausting all other options. Thank you!

 

If you needed to re-install Windows, Dells are finicky about the order in which device drivers are installed.

First, the chipset driver that Major Attitude alluded to needs to be installed then:

Dell System Software
PCMCIA and/or Smartcard
Audio
Video
NIC/Ethernet
Wireless
Bluetooth
Mouse/keyboard/input devices
Modem

I know from personal experience that if the device drivers aren't installed in the order specified by Dell, the computer doesn't work properly.

 

Thank you both very much. No, I did not have to reinstall Windows. I basically just ran Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Super AntiSpyware, Norton, TDDS Rootkiller, and a couple other programs to get rid of crap that had accumulated on my computer. Major Attitude, I will read your article, and do as you advise, hopefully, that will work, and I will report back.

By the way, do either of you know why Dell Diagnostics might not run on my computer?

 

Major Attitude, the first thing I did after reading your article was to run Driver Booster. It found 16 outdated key drivers. It seems like a really good program. It's in the process of updating them, but it's been stuck at 95% for half an hour or more. Will the free version ever complete the process? Once I update all those drivers, if the sound still doesn't work, then I'm going to uninstall/remove all the sound devices and reinstall the drivers, as you recommended.

 

Major Attitude, rebooting in safe mode worked, thank you. All the drivers are updated. Before I go on to your other suggested steps, what are the best programs, similar to driver booster, to analyze your system to determine if anything else is wrong? As I have said, Dell Diagnostics won't run. Thanks again!

 

Sound is back. Thanks everyone for the help.