help! Sound card not detected

I have a soundblaster audigy 2 zs sound card. Recently my sound card all of a sudden stopped being detected after having worked for a long time. in the middle of playing a game the computer crashed, when i booted up the card was no longer detected, the found new hardware thing came up. figuring i could use a fresh format i decided to format. the card worked for a few days and then the same thing happened.

In the device manager there is a yellow question mark next to the pci device. For a while i could disable and re-enable it and the sound would work until it would crash again. Eventually (as it is now) it's just not detected at all, period. formatted one more time and the same deal. i tried downloading and installing the latest drivers right after the fresh install, but that didn't seem to help matters at all. Tried reseating the card and trying different slots to test for IRQ conflict... nothing.

Is it possible for sound cards to die? didn't really think that happened, but i guess it's possible. any ideas? Any help would be much appreciated! thanks

-Kris

specs:
asus k8v se deluxe mobo
1 gb corsair ram
amd 64 3400+
windows xp sp 2
creative audigy 2 zs (platinum i think)

 

It's possible that your original driver is corrupted. Uninstall any that you have downloaded. (use Add/Remove programs)
Check your Creative folder to make sure all sound drivers are gone. If not delete the leftovers. (The whole folder if you have no other Creative installled)
Download and run CCleaner's Registry tool.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_No_Yahoo_Toolbar_English_d4191.html

Install your motherboard chipset driver: VIA 4 in 1 driver Package Service v4.49
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
Then install this driver:
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy, Audigy 2 series and Audigy 4 series Driver

 

wow, thanks! will do. might take a while to do since i'm on dial up. I'll keep ya updated.

 

Well, flashed the bios and installed the latest one. deleted all files pertaining to creative and the soundcard. cleaned out the registry and what not. When i went to install the software it couldn't install because it's not detecting the sound card. i went to autoupdate from the creative website and it also detected nothing. I switched the card to yet another slot i knew to be working, the one with my modem in it, and it still doesn't work. AAGGH!! wtf mate

 

The last thing to try would be to put the card in another system. If it's not detected there either, I'd arrange a funeral for it.