My computer's sound is gone.

Hello all. I am not sure if this is related but I recently had to reinstall my Windows XP home and now I no longer have sound. All I get is that beep from the computer, at times.

Another weird problem is that I can't access my control panel. I have to use run commands to access items in control panel.

My main priority is getting my sound back.
I used WinAmp as my default audio player and it reported,
"Bad DirectSound driver. Please install proper drivers or select another device in configuration.
Error code: 88780078"

When I go to 'Sound and Audio Device Properties' the main Volume tab reports 'No Audio Device'. The 'Hardware' tab lists 'Legacy Audio Drivers' and when highlighted it reports, 'This device is working properly'.
Is this even the right place to attempt to fix this issue?

Not sure if this matters but I use a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 video card.

Any suggestions as to how I can fix this issue?

Thanks in advance!

 

You seem to have some corrupted files it would appear. Do you know how long you've had this problem?
A system restore might help....

 

My oldest system restore available was a week ago. I tried it and it fixed a problem I was having with my Norton anti-virus but it didn't fix my sound problem.
I am sure it is a software problem and my files have either become corrupted or my sound card drivers were somehow wiped out.
Can my Windows XP home disk fix this somehow or is there another approach?

 

reinstall your sound driver again .

 

That sounds like a great idea but I am not sure I know how to do that. I just have my XP Home disc. Can I do that on-line? If so, how do I determine what driver to download. By looking at the original post here is my sound card a Legacy? Or is it NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440? I know that is a video card but I didn't know if that was also my sound card or not.

I am not sure how to determine my sound card and it's appropriate driver.

Thanks for helping!

 

Texan, follow the directions in this POST. Once you have posted the report, as an attachment, myself or any one of the other members will be able to figure out what sound card you have, and where to obtain the latest drivers for your sound card.

 

Nvidia Gf... is a Vga Card not sound card.
If you sound card onboard so installing sound driver from mobo disk
or give us your mobo model for more info

 

Thanks. I downloaded the tool and followed the instructions. Here is ther report:

 

This is the audio driver for your system: VIA Audio Driver 1.40a for Window XP

Also your operating system is seriously out-of-date, and repesents a security risk. Update your system to SP2 and install all critical updates.

Your Motherboard is the A7V133-VM and this is the LINK to the ASUS download site.

 

Thanks!!!!! (sorry for the late reply but my DSL provider was down in all of Texas for most of this evening)
I opened the link/download and WinZip opened a folder (ac9714a_wxp) with 3 files.
1) viaudio.cat Security Catalog 28 KB
2) VIAUDIO.INF 22 KB
3) VIAUDIO.SYS System file 42 KB

I am not sure what is supposed to happen then. There are no exe. files. I right click on them and there is no install option and when I open them, the 1st file just presents itself and the 2nd and 3rd just asks what I want to open them with and that it is dangerous to modify them.

Thanks for your help. I think I am almost there. Can you help me from here?

PS - Oh, I forgot...what am I to do with the 2nd link you provided. There are multiple options and downloads there.

Thanks again!

 

PPS - You are right. I need to upgrade to SP2. I had it once before and STILL have several SP2 files but for some reason, something went wrong and I now only have SP1. I tried to upgrade but I didn't have enough disc space.
(Something I may need help with in the future because there is no explaination as to why my C Drive is so full)

 

To upgrade your sound card drivers:

Right-click on My Computer

Select Properties

Click-on Hardware tab

Click-on Device Manager button

Expand Sound, video and game controller

Find your sond device and right-click on it

Select Properties

click-on Update Driver... buuton

Click-on Driver tab

Welcome to the Hardware Update Wizard will open:

Select No, not this time

Click-on Next

Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)

Click-on Next

Select Don't search. I will choose the driver to install.

Click-on Next

Click-on Have Disk button

Click-on Browse... button

Navigate to the location were you unzipped the drivers.

Click-on OK when propmted, and continue to click-on OK until you are prompted to restart your computer.

 

Thanks Shadow_Puter_Dude.

I followed you intructions. When I expanded Sound, video and game controller, I saw
1) Audio Codecs
2) Legacy Audio Drivers
3) Legacy Video Capture Devices
4) Media Control Devices
5) Video Codecs

I followed the intructions after right clicking 2) Legacy Audio Drivers. I got a warning that Windows could not verify the authenticity but proceded anyway and everything seemed to be working correctly (I watched file images being transfered and such) The computer automatically rebooted but I didn't get my sound back.

Could my problem be in the Audio Codecs?

 

I re-read thread, it would appear that you have multiple issues with this sytem. Follow the instructions in this thread READ ME FIRST BEFORE ASKING FOR SUPPORT: Basic Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal. Just want to make sure that some from of malware isn't causing the problem. If you encounter anything that can't be cleaned following the instruction is the thread; then post in the Spyware Specific Forum. If no problems are found then please post back in this thread and I will continue working with you.

 

Thanks. I will follow the instructions in the post you linked.
I suspect there is a problem in my system. I just downloaded remover.exe 1.004.0122 http://www.majorgeeks.com/remover.exe_d4638.html
and it reported that my computer had the Backdoor.Surila virus. It supposedly removed it but I will know soon enough.

Thanks again.

 

Re: My computer's sound is gone. UPDATE

Shadow_Puter_Dude, you were right. I did have other issues going on that were spyware related and chaslang helped me resolve them.

Looks like I do have some files corrupted.
I use Windows XP Home.
I have found the following error messages,

'The file or directory \WINDOWS2\System32\Drivers\DRMK.sys is corrupt or unreadable. Please run the Chkdsk utility.
Also these two files..
\WINDOWS2\System32\nlcab\DRMK.sys (I may have wriiten the nlcab down wrong) and
\WINDOWS2\System32\Drivers\portcls.sys

- So my next question is, should I reinstall my XP Home or do a XP Repair? Scan Disk didn't fix the problem.

If I am to perform an XP Home Repair, do you know of a link that explains how to do that? It's not in the XP Home Disk's menu. I have reinstalled it before but I could never figure out how to just repair.

Thanks!

 

Run sfc /scannow from the command prompt. You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to run sfc.

 

I ran sfc /scannow and it performed whatever it does but there was no report. I still didn't have sound so I rebooted. I still couldn't get my sound to work so I tried to install the driver again you had me download. It still didn't work so I went back and noticed a couple of things.

In Device Manager, Under 'Sound, Video and Game Controllers' then right clicking on 'Legacy Audio Drivers' (where I have been trying to install the driver) I click on 'Properties' and the box reads, 'No Drivers are installed for this device. If you are having problems with this device click Troubleshooting to start troubleshooter'.
When I click the troubleshoot button, nothing happens.
At the bottom window, under 'Device usage' it reads, "Use This Device (enable)"

One last thing I noticed... In Device Manager, under 'System Devices', then 'Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator' there is an exclamation mark.

 

Right-click on My Computer

Select Properties

Click-on Hardware tab

Click-on Device Manager button

Expand Sound, video and game controller

Right-click on Legacy Audio Drivers

Select Properties

click-on Update Driver... button

Click-on Driver tab

Welcome to the Hardware Update Wizard will open:

Select No, not this time

Click-on Next

Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)

Click-on Next

Select Don't search. I will choose the driver to install.

Click-on Next

Click-on Have Disk button

Click-on Browse... button

Navigate to the location were you unzipped the drivers.

Click-on OK when propmted, and continue to click-on OK until you are prompted to restart your computer.

The drivers should take.

 

That's what I have been doing. I tried it once more but to no avail.
Any other suggestions?

 

Well, now I have a worse problem. My CD Drive isn't working. I have tried to find a driver for it because in In Device Manager, under 'disk drives' it had an explanation mark. I tried to fix it and the explanation mark is gone but it still doesn't work.

I tried to find a driver and even did a search for "download driver for WDC AC26400R" but I couldn't find anything.

I wonder what is causing all of these problems. I can't even reinstall my OS w/out a CD drive.

Can you help?

Thanks for all of your time!

Texan

 

This is your CD Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8240B (24x/10x/40x CD-RW) by LG Electronics. The latest drivers are 8240firm119. I'm not going to leave that link up for long before I take it down.

I need to spend some more time on the sound issue.

 

Your on-board audio adapter is not in your Everest Report. If Everest didn't find your audio adapter it is not working properly.

 

Thanks for the link. I downloaded it but while trying to install it by browsing for the file, the window only allows me to look for *.INF files. Therefore it will not find the 8240firm119.exe file it needs to install the driver.
Maybe this is why I could not successfully install the sound driver.

 

Does this mean I need to replace my sound card? Is the audio adapter and the sound card the same thing?

 

Never mind, those are DOS not Windows drivers. Remove the CD drive from the Device Manager and reboot the system. Windows will pick up the drive and configure it with the New Hardware Wizard.

 

Your motherboard has integrated Audio. Check and make sure the Audio is enabled in BIOS. If the onboard audio no longer works you can install a sound card.

 

How do I check and make sure the Audio is enabled in BIOS?

Regarding removing my cd drive in Device Manager, I didn't see an option that read remove so I uninstaled it and rebooted but the drive is not being recognized. (I check by opening 'My Computer and that drive ins't listed)

 

This is your Motherboard Manual it is a PDF file so you will need Acrobat Reader installed to read it. Pages 61 & 62 of the manual are what you need.

Put your CD-ROM on the other IDE connector, and see if Windows will recognize it. The drive may be bad or your motherboard is about to crap out on you.

 

Thanks for the link for my motherboard's manual.

I'll switch IDE connectors and see what happens. Back when I bought my computer used it only had one cd drive in it but it had two CD drive slots. My wife put a CD burner in the top slot and put the old one in the bottom. The burner was never operational but we kept it in there because it worked as a regular cd drive.
The bottom one didn't work. A computer repair shop tech said the computer recognized the wrong one as a the master and the other a the slave. I didn't know what that meant and he admitted he didn't know how to correct it.

 

On the back of the drive is a jumper to set the drive to Master, Slave,or Cable Select. If the drvie is the first drive on the cable, at the very end of the cable, then the jumper needs to be set to MA. If it is the second drive on the cable, the jumper needs to be set to SL. If both drives are set to MA then only the drive at the end of the IDE cable will be recognized.