TECH CHAT FAQ - SOUND PROBLEMS

Open device manager. There are two ways you can get to the device manager window.

1. Right click on My Computer and go to properties, then click on the Device Manager Tab.

2. Hold down the "flying windows key" and press the Pause/Break key at the same time, then click on the Device manager tab.

(There is more than one way of fixing this problem, it all depends on the cause of the problem:)

1. Once you are in device manager, click on the + next to "Sound, Video, and Game controllers." Once you have done this you should see some devices listed. Check to see if there is a RED X over any of the devices in that list, or a Yellow ! (exclamation mark)

If there is a Red X over one of the devices, this means that device is disabled. To enable that particular device, click once on the device, and then click on properties. Once you are in the properties window, click on "Enable Device" and then the device will be enabled.

If there is a Yellow ! over any of the devices, this means that the device is either not present or there is a resource conflict. To correct a resource conflict you must click once on the device with the Yellow !, then click on properties, then click on the Resources tab. Once you see the resources listen, look at the bottom of that window where it should say "Conflicting device list:" and see if it shows any conflicts. If there is a conflict, uncheck the box that says "Use Automatic settings." Then click on "Settings Based On:" and change those settings, there should be something similar to Basic Configuration 0000, Basic Configuration 0001, Basic Cofiguration 0002. Try all of those settings and each time u change the setting refer to the "Conflicting Device List:" on the bottom. If you have tried all of those setting and there is still a conflict, click on the item in the list that has a RED X on it, and then click on "Change Settings." Then use the up and down arrows to change through settings, and keep referring to the "Conflict Information:" window on the bottom of that window, keep pressing up or down until there are no conflicts listed in the "Conflict Information:" window. Once there is no conflict, click OK.

2. If there is no resource conflict and if the device is not disabled, I recommend finding the driver disk(s) that came with the computer or sound card. From the device manager window, click on all of the items in the "Sound, Video, and Game controllers." list and then click on Remove. Once you have removed all of them, click on Refresh. The computer will now prompt you for the driver disk(s), insert the disk and follow the on screen instructions. This will reinstall the sound card and will most likely work if your sound is not working.

3. Check if the speakers work, try plugging in a pair of headphones into the speaker jack on the sound card, just to test and make sure the speakers work and its not the sound card.