[NewBernTech]

I have a sound problem that I can't seem to solve. I can play the system sounds directly in Windows media player but no system sounds play (startup, shutdown, critical stop, etc.) As a result, there are no sounds on things like YouTube and other online sounds. I am an experienced tech so solutions like turn on the Windows Audio Service or make sure the plug is in the right jack are not going to fix this problem. I've tried all of the registry fixes for audio at Kellys Korner, reinstalled drivers, changed audio cards and even a repair install of XP. Nothing has worked. There are no BIOS settings for sound so it isn't that. I have no speaker icon in the taskbar and the Preview button for system sounds is greyed out even when I select a specific sound. The default Audio Device for Voice would not stay after I selected it and said OK. Checking it again and it is blank (I think this is the root of the problem). There are no conflicts in device manager and nothing has an error condition there. Audio Codecs, Legacy audio drivers and media control devices are all listed twice in Device Manager. That is peculiar but may be related to the install of K-Lite Codec pack that was installed Z(as a fix) and then uninstalled. Card has been moved to a different slot and as I said, I tried a different, working, card.

Dell Dimension 8200
Windows XP SP3
Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value (WDM) (PCI not onboard)
No onboard sound devices.
No chipset drivers available at Dell

Any help appreciated.

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You said: The default Audio Device for Voice would not stay after I selected it

Is that here?

[Ztruker]

You said: The default Audio Device for Voice would not stay after I selected it

Is that here?

[NewBernTech]

No. It is on the Voice tab. Voice Playback/Default Device.

[Ztruker]

What about on the Audio tab, like I show? Is that set?

[NewBernTech]

Yes. It is set to "SB Live! Wave Device". Remember, other sounds play like music (MP3, WMA, WAV, ASX) in Media Player. I cannot play system sounds using the "preview" in the sounds tab even when I've selected a specific sound like "Windows XP Startup". The "play' triangle is greyed out. The sound scheme is set to Windows Default. Those same sounds (C:\Windows\Media\Windows XP Startup.wav can be played through Windows Media Player, the default appplication for that file type. The system sounds are not that important they are just the easiest way to show that sounds are not working properly. The real problem is internet based sounds like YouTube, etc. Yes, Flash Player is installed and up to date. I'm confident that fixing the system sounds problem will fix the internet sounds as well. I've also used the Creative Diagnostics and everything tests ok and sound plays when tested with it. I also checked audio with the DirectX Diagnostic tool and sounds test OK. BTW, thanks for you interest and assistance.

[Ztruker]

Any chance this is user specific? Try creating a new user and test from there.

[NewBernTech]

Good thought. I activated the Guest account and signed in... same problem. Created a Test account. Rebooted and logged in to Test. Same problem.
Didn't mention it but did a sfc /scannow previously that also didn't help and I've used a number of registry hacks suggested as fixes for this in addition to Kelly's Korner fixes.

[Ztruker]

What about doing a Repair Install? How-to repair Windows XP

[NewBernTech]

Already tried that but can try again. At this point I'll try anything except a clean install. Do you suggest I trying again. Would rather not since it means a bazillion Windows updates.

[Ztruker]

There is no guarantee doing a Repair Install will fix the problem, especially if you say you've already done this. If the hardware is defective, which does happen, then even a Clean Install isn't going to help. You could try booting a live Linux CD like Puppy Linux and see if the sound works there or not.

What about adding a PCI sound card instead? When you do, it will replace the on-board sound and should work. No reinstall, no SP1/2/3 or 140+ updates. You can pick one up for very little off the internet. I do this quite a bit when the sound stops working on a older computer.

[NewBernTech]

I've already tried another card as I said in my original post and it didn't make a difference. It is a PCI card not on-board. Repair install didn't work. Any other suggestions? Anyone else? I don't like posting the same problem to different forums but this forum hasn't gotten me very far. That might be my only alternative.

[NewBernTech]

Oh. Sounds work in Linux but I'm not surprised since I can play media files OK in Windows.

[Ztruker]

Since a Repair Install didn't work and we haven't been able to fix it any other way, that leaves a Clean Install as the likely solution, but let me see if I can get some of the other folks here to take a look at this, see if they have any ideas.

[NewBernTech]

Thank you for continuing to work this problem. I continue to look for solutions as well. If I do find it I will be sure to post it back here. As an update, System Restore is not an option since I don't know how long this has been a problem.

[iammykyl]

Gday.
Shooting in the dark.

What about a look in the event logs, maybe some info or errors flagged. Any difference if your start in safe mode. Long process, but add devices in groups. Not sure if a repair install scraps windows updates.but look, , if any, work backwards removing them.