I have WinXP and while I was fooling around with Windows registry, my sound went off. I checked everything with the Windows Help section but I wasn't able to fix it. The message showed "No active Mixer device" on the Sound and Audio Devices section. Anyway after trial and error, I fixed it! I ran a system recovery without losing any of my information. I didn't need installation CDs or Floppy Disks for the process. All I needed was Patience. It took me a while(system recovery takes atleast an hour to two hours depending on the size of your hard drive, DONOT turn your comp off under any circumstances). Nevertheless, I got my sound back without losing any information. I hope this is helpful. Please note that I have winxp, for hp pavillion pc. I dont know if it will work for other versions or different computers. Goodluck!

hey just a hint always always back up your registry before you go messing around with it--all in all I recommend not touching that at all unless you really know what you are doing in that area. So just remember either dont touch it or 2 ALWAYS Back it up. Because you can always restore your back up registry. Well I know on Windows 98 you can and also on windows 2000, but still you can be safe and back it up before messing with it.