Ok - I have a Gateway that I purchased in 2000. We've had to erase the hard drive and reinstall everything three times now in the last 1-1/2 years due to various problems.

After the Klez virus hit me was the last re-install, just a few weeks ago. I seem to have lost my sound since then.

My daughter's boyfriend is very computer literate, and he's helped me through all of these problems, but cannot seem to find a problem with my sound card, program files, etc. which would explain why my sound would just STOP!

Any suggestions? If I have to, I'll get a new sound card, but hate to since my system isn't that old, darn it!


6/25: Sound now working. Apparently the last time we had to do a system restoration, it did not install the drivers. Once installed, everything's fine. Thanks again!

[This message was edited by gizmogram on 06-25-02 at 07:13 PM.]

Gotta start with the simplest of all questions here - have you checked all the connections between your speakers and the computer, the seating of the sound card itself, and (sorry, but I haveta ask) whether the speakers are plugged in and turned on? I spent two hours on a computer once before I figured the outlet it had been plugged into was dead, so simple questions are my specialty.

If the connections are good, contact Gateway directly to check on getting a copy of the original drivers for the soundcard - if it came with the machine, it may not have been absolutely standard.

This is my standard checklist for audio troubleshooting. If you have not installed any new hardware, item (6) does not apply.

There are several possibilities. Each requires a brief diagnostic. For a sound source, click Start, Run, enter "DXDiag" and click OK, then click Sound, Test DirectSound.

1) Most speakers now available require a power supply. If yours does: a) Verify that it's connected; b) Connect one end of the audio cable to the speaker amplifier input (not the speaker input), and the speakers to the amplifier outputs; c) Turn up the amplifier volume, wet your finger and touch the tip of the free end of the cable. If you do not hear a hum or buzz, the cable, speakers, or power supply is faulty.

If your speakers are unpowered, read the manual to see if the soundcard can drive them. Most current soundcards can't.

2) Connect the audio cable between the speaker amplifier input and the soundcard's front speaker output (the jack is often identified with a green ring). Run the Volume Control program in Start >Programs >Accessories >Entertainment (if it's missing, install it with Start >Settings >Control Panel >Add/Remove Programs >Windows Setup >Multimedia >Volume Control). Verify that Mute is NOT set for any input, and that the sliders are up to at least the 5th mark.

3.0) Go to Start >Settings >Control Panel >System >Device Manager, and expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers. If there are duplicate entries for the soundcard, remove all but one. If an entry is marked with a yellow ! or red ?, select the device to determine why, and see any suggested solution. Double-click the soundcard and verify "Disable..." is NOT ticked, and "Exists..." IS ticked. If your sound is listed in another device section (miscellaneous devices, perhaps), verify that Disable and Exists are also set as described above.

3.1) Still in Device Manager, expand System Devices and PCI bus, then click the IRQ Steering tab. Tick the "Use IRQ Steering" check box if it is clear.

If you've made any changes, restart the computer for them to take effect.

4) Go to Start >Settings >Multimedia >Audio, and verify your soundcard is the preferred playback device. If the soundcard is not specifically listed, choose "Game Compatible Device". Tick "Use only preferred devices" and "Show volume control...". Click the Devices tab, double-click Audio Devices and your soundcard. Verify that "Use audio features..." is selected.

5) You may need to reinstall the soundcard driver. If an updated driver is available, you should try it.

6) Click Start, Run, enter "MSINFO32" and click OK to launch the System Information utility. Double-click Hardware Resouces to expand it (if necessary) and click Conflict/Sharing. If the soundcard is sharing its IRQ with another device (except as an IRQ holder), you may have to move the soundcard, or the other device, to another PCI slot so that the soundcard does not share its IRQ.

Nice list Tom. Generally, the Windows taskbar has the yellow speaker icon that can be double clicked to access volume control. If it's there, Windows recognizes you have sound drivers. This is a first step.
Ok, the following information is a little out there. A simple OS install really shouldn't have affected any of this, but these are some things to check if you have exhausted all other ideas. First, is it integrated sound or is it an actual card? When I was working as a tech at Wabash Valley, we got a load of 800MHz P3 Gateways (late Summer 2000 to be exact) with the integrated sound. half of them had the sound card set to off in the BIOS as a factory default. Since I haven't touched one of those for over a year, I don't remember where exactly in the BIOS it is located, but it will say something along the lines of "integrated sound" or "onboard sound". If you are using the integrated sound, select this to on. If you have an actual card, this should be set to off.
If you have an actual card, make sure the speakers are plugged into the line out jack for that card and not the line out jack that is onboard.
Well, that's all I can think of to add right now. More info, such as sound card type/brand would help, but with the info given, you should be set.
-Cray, Senior in CS, Southern IL University Carbondale

Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond sooner to say thanks! I'll try the suggestions.