Audio problem

So earlier today I was listening to music. I turned off my comp and went for a snack. When I came back, I wanted to listen to some music and found to my big surprise that the sound wasn't working. I tried restarting my comp, and when logging in I got the usual Windows startup sound, halfway in, it stopped and the sound still didn't work. I reinstalled my sound driver and it worked. However, now it's back to not working, and I really don't feel like reinstalling it each and every time this happens. Hoping for some help. Using Realtek AC'97. (I'm not a uber geek, so try to keep it simple

 

Seeing that you have had no help, I'll take a stab at it...but I am just guessing here
How about reinstalling the driver, make sure it is working, set a restore point, and then do a restore from that point... That might set everything proper and keep it that way, that's just a guess though

 

Any other problems with the system lately? You may have been hit with a virus, adware, malware or spyware that messed with something vital. Run some scans to make sure then set your restore point so that you can be fairly certain it will be a clean restore.

 

I've not been having any other problems, and I've done a few scans with Norton and some anti-adware, but haven't found anything. Now, I'm not sure what this restore point means, would be greatly appreciated if someone could explain this step by step.

 

OK, I'm hoping you are running Windows XP. If not this won't help First go to Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> System Restore> That should get you to a page that says Welcome to System Restore , on the left are 2 things "restore to an earlier time" and "create a restore point". If you haven't added software in a while you could try restore to an earlier time to a point before the problems or like i said in the first post

 

Are you sure it is the pc and not a bit of dodgy wiring or the speakers (?headphones) themselves or their power supply?
Is the pc a laptop or desktop?
Studio T

 

It's a desktop. And I'm pretty sure it's not the speakers, because the sound doesn't work with any other speakers or headphones either.

 

More info! It would seem as it now is not even working right after I have installed it, starting to get very frustrated

 

Now, I am out of suggestions. Maybe you can try reposting this info in the driver section and get help... Sounds like a frustrating problem

 

Possibly there is another piece of software conflicting with it. You can try turning itmes off in mcsonfig startup items.

The onboard sound ports may have just gone kaput as well. Try wiggling the speaker wire where it plugs into the jack, or change how far you plug into the jack (ie: maybe not all the way in). If you have a seperate sound card you can try that too.

 

As I understand the symptoms you describe you had a system that had been working fine for some time. Then a partial failure occurred in the audio and finally a full failure.
Fully functional systems don't stop working for no reason - something has changed. There are three possibilities; hardware failure, software (incompatibility) and external (virus). Fault diagnosis is about eliminating posibilities.
Your symptoms are consistent with hardware failure, rather than software or virus. External hardware (wiring, speakers etc) is easy to deal with, which is why I suggested it first. You could also have a failing connection or component internally. Many circuit boards made around 2005 were populated with faulty capacitors which fail prematurely, or your audio chips could simply not be soldered down properly. I don't get the impression you are equipped to test for or deal with this sort of problem, a service tech would probably simply replace the motherboard. A cheaper solution might be to add a new sound card.
From a software point of view sound cards & chips, unlike video, work well with Windows and Realtek (your AC97) in particular. That said, Windows is constantly changing with its updates and so removing from an update around the time that the trouble started might help. Look in 'Add Remove programs' in the control panel and tick the show updates. You could also try system restore to take the system back to before the problem. Go to start >programs>accessories>system tools>system restore and follow the easy instructions. If this fails to restore you sound you can be pretty sure you have an internal hardware problem. Sorry.
I don't think you have a sound gobbling virus.

Studio T

 

I've figured out the problem, apparently it was my headphones. I did a system restore and it worked perfectly fine, when I plugged in my headset, it stopped again. So should I just get a new head set or what? PS: mic works just fine.

 

Glad it was only external hardware!

Remember the best (cheddar) cheese doesn't go mouldy.

Studio T