8 Mos. of PC hell...I fixed my PC but now I HAVE NO SOUND!! help!

[Topless In Tex]

God...after 8 months of constant blue screening, locking up, pc errors and crashing....tonight after 3 hours of trying for the 7th time of Downloading WINDOWS...(BTW: THANK YOU DARRELL!!!!!!!!) I O U BIG TIME!!!!!!!! I finally got my pc up and running normally....its wierd.... I only wanted to put a bullet in it twice and kicked my tower twice as well.

So....my NEW FRIGIN' DILLEMA............... I HAVE NO SOUND NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!! I dont know why. I have new speakers. I'm not sure in all my frantic button pushing between scan disks, and everything else if I did not accidently wipe out my audio?????????? Where do I check to find out if my audio is there??????? I dont have the little 'speaker' on my task bar anymore and I cant think straight right now...so...if ya'll have any ideas PLEASE let me know..

someone said something about the Sound Card, what is that? and could I have done something in getting my pc back to life that accidently screwed that up????????????????????
I cant be w/ out sound!!!!!!

This sucks....I cant believe I actually fixed it myself....MAN! BUT that it would go SMOOTHLY w/out any problems.....nothing is EVER easy!!!!!!!!!!:cussing:
Thanks ya'll if you have any input, better yet, if any of ya'll wanna troll this way this weekend and fix me up...that'd be even better!!!!!!
help.
TNT

[Firme]

Christine,

I am assuming you have windows 95/98? on you desktop where the icons are, right click with the right mouse button on the "My Computer" Icon, a menu will appear, left click on "Properties" which should be the last item. System properties will come up, click on the second tab called "Device Manager". Here is a listing of your hardware. Do you have a listing called "Sound, video and game controllers", if not, do you have anything with a yellow question mark next to it called "Other Device". If there is a listing for "Other Device", next to it click the "+" sign to have it list its contents, what does it say.

This is all assuming that the speakers are hooked up correctly, and you haven't manually set your configuration to not show the little yellow speaker in the systray next to the clock.

[Andy M]

Christine,


You said you have "new" speakers? Is this the very first time you try them out? if so, do you have another PC/laptop available to check them out? or do you have your old speakers hanging around? just to make sure it is not some sort of speaker and/or wiring problem??

otherwise, it will depend on which Windows OS you are running as to how you will be able to troubleshoot it? Sounds like we could do some preliminary stuff though to figure it out. Let me know if you need more help with this?

[Topless In Tex]

Thanks Guys...
Andy, they are 'new' cuz i blew my old ones, but they are the ones I've been using for the last couple of months. They worked up until last night when I downloaded the Windows....
Edmond, Yes, it is '98. I will do like you said and see how it turns out. Prolly try it tonight after I get home from work. I have to go back to the shop now....thanks for the input..hopefully it will tell me something.
TNT

[Topless In Tex]

Hey Edmond,
Heres what it says when I opened up the Sound, video, ,etc...
ESS Allegro PCI Audio(WDM)
Gameport Joystick
(!) Microsoft Kernel System Renderer
MPU-401 Compatible
Wave Device for Voice Modem

In front of the MS Kernal...THere is a yellow ! over the pic....as well as on my MOUSES(MICE)
It says:
Logitech HID-complant iFeel MouseMan
(!)WheelMouse1(PS/2)

Are these 2 things conflicting w/ each other? OR what is the deal? So, what does this mean, is this why I have no sound..do you know how I can fix it???? THANKS SO MUCH!
<--------------(this would fix it huh?)

TNT

[Andy M]

Originally posted by Topless In Tex
Hey Edmond,
Heres what it says when I opened up the Sound, video, ,etc...
ESS Allegro PCI Audio(WDM)
Gameport Joystick
(!) Microsoft Kernel System Renderer
MPU-401 Compatible
Wave Device for Voice Modem

In front of the MS Kernal...THere is a yellow ! over the pic....as well as on my MOUSES(MICE)
It says:
Logitech HID-complant iFeel MouseMan
(!)WheelMouse1(PS/2)

Are these 2 things conflicting w/ each other? OR what is the deal? So, what does this mean, is this why I have no sound..do you know how I can fix it???? THANKS SO MUCH!
<--------------(this would fix it huh?)

TNT

Christine,

Unfortunately, Windows 98 is NOT a very friendly OS when it comes to troubleshooting problems.... but since you are already down this path... I will take a crack at it.

The little yellow ! usually means that this particular driver (in your case, the software driver which makes the sound card work properly) is either:

1) corrupt (and therefore needs to be reloaded)
2) non-existent (and therefore needs to be loaded)

or

3) was updated at some point in the past (before you loaded Windows 98 again) and needs to be reloaded again

or

4) is possibly conflicting with another driver trying to somehow load itself in memory in the same location (memory address) as your mouse driver?? Is your mouse functioning properly at this time?

In either of these cases, it sounds like you will need to reload this driver.

You would probably want to visit the Allegro web site to download the latest rev of their driver for this particular card.

I've done a little searching and have been unable to locate a driver for 98... I've found a bunch of them for Linux, but that is not going to help you.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

Do you still have any original CDs which came with the computer and/or your sound card?? This would be a great place to look for the right driver to load?...

[Firme]

christine,

would this happen to be a Gateway???

I suspect it is, if so let me know and i will walk you through it.

otherwise I can email you the proper drivers... and walk you through getting the hardware straightened out

[Topless In Tex]

Good morning...
No, its a Crapaque, um, I mean a Compaque. Actually my mouse has been a little slow, but its intermittent. I did not get ANY disks for that stuff w/ the pc. it came all preloaded complete w/ the Windows is why I had to get my hands on a disk from someone else to replace my deleted files. I cant believe that it got screwed up by downloading Windows again? It was working FINE till I did that! I tried rebooting, did not work. Thanks ya'll for the help. Ya, I guess if ya'll can tell me what to do next!
TNT

[Firme]

yeah, loading Windows on top of itself is NEVER a good idea, no matter what the supposed PC specialists tell ya..

there quite a few steps you needs to take, but its can real confusing typing 3 paragraphs for you to follow, and then waiting for a respononse it something further needs to be done...

what time will you be home??? you can PM me a number and a time, and I will call you and walk you through how to fix that



Edmond

[Topless In Tex]

dang, sounds like its a major P.I.T.A!!!!!!! I had no idea you werent supposed to load Windows on top of Windows...
Edmond, Im home now, (I dont work on Fridays..) but I"m about to do some stuff around here, and I'm waiting on some company. But, Yes, I guess you talking me thru it by phone will be the best thing to do! I will PM you my number, and maybe in a few hours after I see whats going on around here, I can do it. How long you think it would take?
I feel lost w/out my sound on my pc....I hate it! Thanks so much for all your help!!!!!!!! O I U too!
TNT

[Bartman01]

My best Windows loading tip - you can always try this if nothing else works. I zip up the entire Windows directory to a zip file, back up any files I know I will need (favorites/cookies/desktop/etc), then boot from floppy and deltree the whole Windows directory.

Then I install Windows from the CD, and restore the backed up files. You will also need to reinstall all your programs. I keep the old zipped up copy of the Windows dir around for a couple of months in case I find I still need something from it.

For a super clean install I also do the same for the Program Files directory before I reload Windows.

I tinker so much that I usually have to do the Windows/Program Files cleanup every 6 months for so under Win98. I haven't had XP that long, but hopefully it will stay more stable. I am constantly installing/uninstalling software, demos, hardware, etc - but even on a "stable" machine I have found Win98 to get flaky after about a year.

[Firme]

hands down the best Non-linux OS, is Windows 2000

all 9x platforms are crap IMHO (95, 98, ME)


XP is somewhat stable.. but I don't like the extra fluff and hassle, plus its got a ton of security issues and a ton of built in microsoft "spy ware", DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON PALLADIUM AND WHATS TO COME.. ( I will be switching to Linux at home at that point)

as far as windows, and reloading, I always make a second partition and keep anything worth keeping on it(run my favorites off that partition and keep copies of any other important files that reside on C)), so I can format and reinstall on the boot partition all I need and my data never gets touched.. the problem with installing over existing OS or restoring old files on top of a new deltree install is that sometimes, the problems carry back over with the files that you restore or installing on top of windows does not address the issue. Also you get what Christine got when installing windows on top of itself, which is hardware drivers and allocation going haywire. All problems are curable if you know the ins and outs, but for everyday users, its a nightmare.

clean install makes for less file clutter, and less headache IMO , Always backup your important data

[Topless In Tex]

Hey ya'll...
dang..reading ya'lls posts just makes me feel so pc illiterate!!!! Everything sounds like such a pita! I was hoping it would fix itself, but it has not. My mouse is glitchy, my programs are running slow, and the whole damn thing is just 'glitchy'. Slow. Although, I have no more blue screening constantly and no more 'error' messages.
Edmond, I sent ya a PM last night....I guess maybe tomorrow, I need to get this thing fixed. I just dont feel like dealing w/ it, but I need to...Give me a call in the a.m. if your around. I'll be here. major plans for the a.m. is to mow the yard. If I dont answer my cell, leave me a message. If not then, just whenever is best for you...I'm flexible. Thanks guys for your help. I really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TNT