No sounds on my computer

[kitty1950]

My son recently wiped my computer because he said there was a lot on it and it was the quickest way to clear its memory and start again. He has now gone back home and I find I have no sounds at all on my computer except for a beep when I play a wrong card at freecell. I cannot stand the silence. I have tried looking in the control panel but can't find anything that will get the sound back. Has anyone any ideas as to what I can do to solve this problem? I can't get in touch with my son at the moment because of his work commitments. Any help will be gratefully recieved. Thanks, Kath.

[CheekyChick]

Sounds like he hasn't loaded the drivers for the sound card. What operating system are you using, windows xp etc??

[kitty1950]

I am using Windows XP.

[ChuckFickens]

goto the manufactures web site and then goto the support section and there will be a drivers and downloads section where you'll be able to download the drivers.

Or if you post the make and model of computer somebody will probably hunt the drivers out for you and post a link to them.

[CheekyChick]

If you right click on My Computer and select manage you will get the computer management console appear. Select Device manager on this list and you will see there is an option for sound, video and game controllers. Is there anything yellow on any of the audio drivers in there??

[kitty1950]

CheekyChick, I tried what you said and there is nothing yellow on any of the devices.

[cancross]

In your control panel, there is the Sounds and Audio Devices Icon. Click on that.

Under Device Volume, is the Mute button checked?

If so, deselect that.

[another-view]

When you say there are no sounds, is it the sounds on your computer when an error message pops up or you get a new email OR is it when you visit a website like youtube for example?

[kitty1950]

There is no sound at all. The mute button is not checked. I tried a cd but it couldn't play because no sound driver is installed. I need to know what sound driver to install.

[cancross]

Do what Cheeky said and get back to the Device Manager - open Sound, Video and Game Controllers and see what audio drivers you should have - mine are Legacy

Then go here, http://www.soundcard-drivers.com (or any other reputable site) find your drivers and download and install.

[cancross]

Here's another angle from a net search I did:

"Have you verified that the service is running? I had a very similar problem a year ago and even went so far as to get a new sound card; nothing worked. Turns out that the service just wasn't running.

Try this: Go to start > run. Type in services.msc and hit OK.

When the box pops up, scroll down and look for Windows Audio (or similar). Double click it. Make sure that the startup type is Automatic, change it to that if it isn't. Then click Start."

[kitty1950]

I don't seem to be getting anywhere. I have tried all what has been suggested and I am no nearer to a solution. Are these soundcards free to use or just free to download. I don't like paying for things if I don't have to. My computer is a Packard Bell EasyNote laptop and I seem to have lost all the manufacturers helplines.

[cancross]

This stuff can get really technical, but I did find this page:

http://www.computerhope.com/help/spb.htm#1

[cancross]

And this page:

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum/dri vers/37850-no-sound.html

[kitty1950]

Thanks to you all for your help but it's all too confusing for me, I will wait until my son is able to help me. Kath.

[kitty1950]

Just thought I'd post this for anyone who is interested, I am now fully operational again. I phoned The TECHGUYS helpline and a very nice man took me through it all and told me how to install the sound, modem and video drivers. I would just like to say thankyou again to you all for trying to help me. Kath.