Problem with audio/sound card

Im running Xp Home SP2 on my computer, i just did a reformat and have all the drivers up and running. Except for my sound card :. My pc is a HP model, i recieved no drivers discs when i ordered the pc. Their website says i need an AC'97 driver, but this does when installed, no new hardware. This is the second time that ive reformatted this pc and the first time i had the same problem but i forgot how i fixed it :-o .

I have now found that a realtek HD audio driver gets me more results, after installing it i got some new hardware installed messages, and hey presto sound worked, but when i restarted in didnt work.

what do i need to do :confused , do you need an everest readout? if so how do i do one of those

cheers in advanced (my first post and thread)

 

If you go to the HP site you should find all drivers on there. Install all the ones relevant to your machine, starting with the chipset drivers then the audio drivers and all other drivers. Let us know if the installation of the chipset drivers solves the problem.

 

im pretty sure ive tried this before. But ill try again, should i restart in between the chipset install and the sound card install?
also in my device manager there is no audio part in the other devices, as the realtek hd driver now makes a realtek HD audio thingy appear in Sound,Audio and games section. As i previously said sound did work just after installing this driver but then after my restart it once again failed.

also to clarify when i said " but this does when installed, no new hardware" i meant but this does nothing when installed, and no new hard ware messages appear.

 

SORRY ABOUT DOUBLE POST! the edit option disapeared, i assume its a timed thing
anwayz.I installed the chipset on the hp website, and then the driver for the AC'97 (with a restart in between) that they say will work, nothing really happened at all.
i am thinking could the REALTEK HD driver just be tricking windows into thinking that there is a working sound card? i mean the hp website didnt say i needed it, i kinda accidently got it, the reason i still think it may be correct is that i managed to get sound for a few minutes after it installed..
if i need to unistall this driver how do i? because everytime i uninstall and reboot it seems to re install...

according to hp this is my model

HP Pavilion t3218.uk Desktop PC