Sound Troubles

[eharrison]

Hello! I'm in the midst of recovering from a total hard drive failure on my work computer. It just returned from the tech hospital with a brand new Seagate 15 GB hard drive, and my original Windows 95 plus hardware drivers reinstalled.

One (!) problem that continues is the lack of sound. The tech assures me the sound driver was installed (I do see it on device drivers), but there is no sound, and no volume control icons in the sys tray. (P.S. There also appears to be a version conflict for the mouse driver, but every time I try to fix it following instructions, I lose the mouse, and can't continue until I reboot.)

Back to the sound situation. Went to control panel, add/remove, multimedia. Saw that only two of the 8 or nine elements had been installed. Checked all, tried to install, got the "insert Win 95 disk" message. When I did, it couldn't find any of the files I needed on that disk.

My question is (finally): where are those files I need to bring back the sound? Are they on another disk (maybe the disk where the sound driver was?), or are they hiding on the Win 95 disk? How can I restore my sound?

The tech who repaired the computer says I have to bring it back to the shop. I'm trying to avoid the extra time, trouble and expense. Can anyone give me a clue or two, please? I'd be ever so grateful. Thanks!

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Elizabeth H.

[eharrison]

P.S. Forgot to say the fundamentals have already been checked, i.e., the speakers are plugged in the right places, and do work because I can hear the modem dial up (but nothing else). Thanks again.

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Elizabeth H.

[Paleo Pete]

When you try the Add/Remove try installing the applications again, and when it asks for the win95 disk, use the Browse button and go to the Win95 folder on the CD. That's where the files should be. Those applications shouldn't cause the sound not to work, it's usually either drivers, speakers plugged in wrong or a conflict.

The sound not working could be any of several things.

Make sure the speakers are plugged into the correct jack on the sound card, (not the modem) and the power to them is turned on. The speaker you hear when the modem dials up is not the same speakers, it's a small 2 1/2" speaker mounted inside the case, the same one that beeps when you turn the computer on. So double check the speaker plug.

You might have a sound card that sends a low impedance signal, and requires powered speakers, so make sure the power is on. Or try headphones.

Check to see if you have a volume control at Start\Programs\Accessories\Multimedia If so, make sure it's not muted.

Check in Device Manager and see if you have any conflicts listed on the sound card. They will be indicated by a yellow exclamation point, sometimes called a "splat". Let us know, we'll try to help fix that.

If nothing else works, download current drivers for your sound card, boot into Safe Mode, remove ALL sound cards from Device Manager, reboot and let Windows find and install it again, and have the drivers expanded and ready. To install the downloaded drivers, click the Have Disk button after you select the proper sound card, and browse to the folder where you unzipped the drivers. The download site should have instructions.

WinDrivers (http://www.windrivers.com) and WinFiles (http://www.winfiles.com) are the best driver sites I know of.



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