Oh boy, I need some help w/my audio and I can't get "Restore" to work...

[rasputin1952]

My audio dropped dead, and I thought that going to "Restore" might help, but I can't start Restore...and my audio from the Control Panel gives me a "No Playback Devices" in the pop-up box.

I think I could go to a restore point, but that apparently is askew as well, (which I find very troubling).

Anyone have any Ideas?

I'm using XP Pro, w/a Firefox browser...everything else appears to be working well, and after sutdown and restart...zip as far as audio/Restore goes.

I ran a Norton virus check, nothing out of the ordinary, except 4 items that "cannot be accessed" in the mid-range of threats.

Thanks...:hi:

[JBoy]

1. Your audio driver may be corrupted.

Try going to Control Panel, then Device Manager...

Find the audio device, right click and select "uninstall".

Reboot, and Windows will find and reinstall the right audio driver.

(Not sure about your Restore problem...)

[rasputin1952]

2. Ack...I did the "uninstal", Windows found the sound card...

but there are "no drivers installed". So I went to a few places looking for a download for "realtek R1.94" and when I downloaded what I thought was the driver, I rn into who knows what.

I thought Windows kept drivers in the pc for such an occasion, but now I'm lost again. I downloaded something called "DriverUpdate" and after a scan, it told me I had the driver...needless to say, my frustration level rose immediately, and I thought about "fixing" this thing with a 2# mallet...:eyes:

What I have is as a sound card is Realtek HDAD (R1.94) but when I go to the Realtek site, I can't find it...(getting mallet to where it's "easy access), would Microsoft have this thing?

[JBoy]

3. I think the Realtek drivers are here:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3

I see it has a note suggesting getting the driver from the motherboard manufacturer, in case there are any customizations. If you know that, you could also try there.

Good luck! (In my Googling I see that many others have similar issues.)

[travelingtypist]

4. You might try sfc /scannow from the CMD prompt on your restore issue.

Ran across that fix in a couple of tech forums I troll.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/sfc-scannow.htm

[canetoad]

5. Do you have a separate audio card

or is the sound integrated with the mobo?

Sound drivers are generally on the motherboard disc. If you have that, no worries, pop it in and away you go. Unfortunately, Windows does not usually have a spare set of audio drivers.

Is your machine a proprietary one, that at the very first instance of boot you have an option to restore to factory state? After backing up your own files that is an option that may fix both the system restore problem and audio problem.

A word of caution against the diagnosis of 'corrupt driver'. While it certainly is not impossible, it is a fairly rare occurrence in the normal course of things. Suddenly disfunctional sound would point more to a hardware problem than drivers.