Sound Problems

[Superdave]

Something's up with my computer...my sound stopped working a few days ago, after I clicked out of Winamp. No system sounds, nothing.

What was weird though, was the fact that if I start a game, the sound works fine....

?

Also, somehow the "Volume Control" function is gone, I can't set the volume on any inputs, or set a recording input...how I this be reinstalled?

 

[bassguitar]

What OS is it?
What kind of soundcard?

Can you get to the volume control functions via the Control Panel?

 

[Superdave]

Windows XP, SoundBlaster, which is stock on all '98 Gateways I guess.

When I try to get to it through CP, it says it's not installed.

 

[bassguitar]

Ouch. If you have a good restore point you can try a system restore.

or try this
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Superdave]

I think that could do it, thanks!

 

[Superdave]

This is driving me crazy, sound for video games works fine, sounds for music, videos, or normal system sounds do not....

It just started after I got out of Winamp, I didn't mess with any settings, or anything like that.

 

[Transverz]

Find the drivers for your Soundblaster and reinstall them. Maybe the sound card reinstall will help your computer "find" the sound card again. Best of luck...

-T

 

[Superdave]

Transverz; Thanks! That did it dude, I completely forgot about updating the driver!

 

[Transverz]

WOOHOO! Really glad that helped. Stupid disappearing drivers. If you haven't yet, you may want to do a thorough virus check just in case. Why I have so much invested in other people's computer problems, I'll never know.

Meanwhile, the score is

Computers: 846
Transverz: 185

Stupid computers...

-T

 

[Superdave]

Ok, this is odd.

Check it out, the sound stops working again, so I roll back the driver. It starts working again...later in the week, it stops working again, so I update the driver...........it works again...

 

[Transverz]

Hmm. I'm not a big proponent on the "blame it on a virus" conspiracies that many people seem to claim every problem on, but this time, it may be that. Run a virus/worm scan and see if everything is clean.

If everything seems to check out okay ("seems" because there is lots that can undetected), my next move would be to do a reformat of your computer, if you haven't done it in the last year or so. Yeah, that's rather extreme, but it's the only thing nowadays that ensures that hard to diagnose problems are gone, IF the only problem is within the OS or software. If its a hardware problem, then change out the hardware (like the soundcard) but these things are often times hard to troubleshoot. Reformatting ensures a clean slate from which to depend on. Combined with a decent anti-virus and security program, it's the only thing I depend on to make sure I can trust my computer with my important stuff without feeling like one day I won't have the info in my computer.

*disclaimer - If you aren't sure about reformatting hard-drives and such, get someone else to do it or you may end up losing lots of info/programs/stuff or maybe not even having your computer start up again. As long as you back up ALL your critical and important info on disc or another hard drive, AND know that you have the programs/software you need on disc AND at least the driver to your ethernet card or modem (or whatever you need to get on the internet), a reformat can go smoothly. I recommended only the driver for the ethernet card or modem because ALMOST any other driver can be found online. Of course, having all the latest drivers on disc does not hurt either.

Best of luck!

-T