Hi folks I really hope someone here can help. Yesterday my pc wouldnt boot, eventually it let me reinstall win 98 se. When i tried to play an mpg video the message "cannot playback the audio stream, no hardware available" popped up. The video plays fine but no sound. I checked the device manager, which sated the soundcard existed, no conflicts, drivers were the latest etc. Checked the audio properties, sliders at max, no muted. i let Windows media player take me to the MS website..but no help there. I un-installed my soundcard in device manager, shut everything down and proceded to install another known OK soundcard, rebooted, went through hardware detection and driver install, and again device manager stated everything was ok no conflicts working...but nothing. I did the same with another soundcard..nothing. I tried real player..no sound. Re-installed windows media player. nothing. Today i tried windows CD player..works fine. I get the AOL sounds..youv got email etc. Now i dont have much faith in the device manager as it said my last modem was ok when it wasnt. Any help appreciated.

To extricate your computer from the mess of multiple Sound card Drivers and Multimedia Applications competing with one another, you may have to uninstall all software and Physically remove all Installed Sound cards (hardware), Reboot and then start from a 'clean slate'. My approach would be to : 1. Start Computer in Safe Mode. [ Press CTRL after Powering On and from Windows 98 Startup Menu select Safe Mode and press ENTER and click OK to enter Safe Mode when the Central Explanatory Applet pops up with safe mode displayed on all corners of the screen.] 2. Open Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel [ start>settings>control Panel>add/Remove Programs and select and Remove all the installed Multimedia applications [Windows Media Player, Real Player etc.] and the Sound card associated Software 3. Open System from Control Panel and from Device Manager select and Remove all instances of all Sound Cards from the Sound Video and game controllers and Other devices cluster if present. 4. Click Start> Shut Down...>Shut down> OK . 5. Remove all External Cables and open the case. 6. Under Antistatic precautions, remove the installed Sound Cards and save them in Antistatic bags. 7. Ensure all internal cables are secure in their respective origins and destinatioins and no cards have been moved from their slots. Leave the case until all the troubleshoots are finished. 8. Reconnect all External Cables & Restart the PC in Normal Mode. No Multimedia Devices must be detected by the Windows and no error messages displayed during startup. [if you have uninstalled all the software and hardware properly] 9. Recheck Device Manager for any sound Devices [ None should be found] 10. Read the documentation about the Sound card you want to Install as to how the drivers & other Software must be installed for the device. 11. Shut down the PC, decable, and then Install the Sound Card in the PCI slot the previous card worked. [Don't Forget the Antistatic Wrist Starp!] 12. When Windows98 redetects the New PCI Multimedia Device and the new Hardware Wizard prompts you to install the driver, install the Driver exactly as the manufacturer has suggested. 13. Check the Device Manager for the presence of the Installed Sound Card without any error symbols. 14. Go to Control Panel > Multimedia> Audio tab and verify that in the Preferred device: box under Playback & recording sections, you find the name of the Installed Sound Card. 15. Click & place a Checkmark to the box of Show volume control on the taskbar 16. Click the CD Music tab and verify that your chosen CD-ROM drive's letter shows up in the box of Default CD-ROM drive for playing CD Music 17. click OK 17. Install the Multimedia Application [I prefer Windows Media Player9 over the resource hog, Real Player] Hope this fixes the problem . If you use this method , I will appreciate your feed back , good or bad:-)

Maad Many thanks for taking the time to write such detailed reply. Your advice IS essentialy what i have been through almost to the letter. Since i posted my quiery i have been looking closer, and i now know the soundcard is not at fault...as i have played mpgs on real player and sound was ok (video is rubbish) Also CD player works okay so its a configuration thing. I am tempted to buy a another cheap soundcard and just start again but first i think real player has got to go. Any more thoughts on the matter..i would value your input. Thanks again Zedder

anytime you have sound problems its good to just go to control panel > sounds. If you windows can make its normal cutie-pie sounds then your hardware is okay and the problem is somewhere in the driver/software/encoding world. You might try moving the pci cards to different slots.

kRealplayer may be your problem. It wants to take over from any other players in the system and installs itself as the default. Even changes the file etensions on playlists. I would chack to see if this is your problem. Winamp 2xx is a good player without all that nonsense. Windows media player from around 7 up won't play copywrighted files on your computer without "certificates". Not sure of that name but the principle is there.

Go to multimedia in control panel. See if a playback device is selected.