My son gave me this computer since he got a new one for Christmas. He wanted to reformat the hard drive so I would have a completely clean system to start off fresh. Everything worked great after the reformat, however the sound is completely gone. We reinstalled Sound Card software (Creative Blaster live sound card)but still nothing happens. I am at a loss of what to do. I am not real computer savvy so know nothing about registrys or bios, etc. I don't want to fool with it when I have no clue what I am doing. Is there someone who can help me with this and maybe walk me through some steps as to what I should do or give me some advice? I would greatly appreciate your time. I am very frustrated.. Thanks...

Rite clik my computer,/propertys/device manager /sound-multimedia and is the sound card listed there?
and does it have a yellow mark beside it??

Did you go to creative.com and get the latest driver?
Speaker jacks COMPLETELY plugged in?
Power to speakers?
Power switch on speakers turned on?
Is the card recognized by windows? /from the control panel, sounds and audio devices does it show your card? Check volume.
Right click on my computer and look in device manager, see if you can find sound card there also.
What operating system are you using?

As suggested above, right click My Computer, and select Properties. In the System Properties dialogue box, select the Device Manager tab, and go to (+) Sound, Video and Game Controllers.

Click on the (+), to see a listing of the audio devices. If there is a yellow exclamation mark to the right of any of these devices the device is not working properly.

If the above is the case it is best to start the PC in Safe Mode, remove any entries/remnants in My Computer>Device Manager under (+) Sound, Video and Game Controllers, and then reboot.

Upon reboot, Windows attempts to install the driver software for the sound card.

You may need to obtain the latest drivers for the sound card beforehand.

Yes, I have gone to Device Manager and sound card IS listed. No yellow mark beside it, everything looks fine there. States that drivers are enabled and working. All volume controls are on, nothing muted, etc. I am using OS Millenium Edition. I am right now on the Creative website downloading drivers. I just hope I am downloading the right ones. What do I do after they are downloaded? Sorry, but I know NOTHING much at all about computers...Thanks, guys...

Also, I forgot to mention that I have a HP Tour Guide Wizard and when I click on him and he appears on my desktop, he talks and I can hear him. No problem with his voice coming over speakers loud and clear but NOTHING ELSE works that requires sound (logon,logoff,event sounds/cd player/game sounds, etc)...How can that posssibly be?

I downloaded all drivers and installed and restarted pc and still no sound. Any other suggestions?

Eileen, run scandisk (thorough, fix errors), and defragment. Sometimes the simplest thing works. That is strange, though, just having sound with the tour guide and nothing else. Now I'll be up all night trying to think this through, LOL.

Do you have a speaker icon beside your clock in the lower rite??
Rite clik and open volume controls and see that all your levels are turned up

one last idea. from control panel, sound and devices icon, check the audio tab and click the advanced button and see if you have speakers or headphones selected in the drop down list.

OK..In answer to your questions:
#1.. I did check advanced button in sounds and devices of my control panel and it is set up for speakers in the drop down box.

#2.. Yes, there is a speaker icon beside my clock in lower right. I right clicked it and it is not muted and volume level is set at highest.

#3..I have run Scandisk and Defrag and no errors showing.

I have also deleted the software showing under device manager, and reinstalled sound blaster software and rebooted. After doing all this and updating drivers, what else is left to check? I am ready to pack it all up and put it back in the boxes. I am very frustrated. There has got to be a reason the sound does not work!

One thing I found odd in all the places I have checked is under Sounds and Multimedia in control panel, you can click on th sounds tab and you have option to select different sounds for different events. Well, of course none of these work but below that window, it has a control that says Sound Volume and a dial with a slider to slide from low volume to high volume and the dial is set at lowest but I cannot move the dial because none of it is highlighted, it is in a faded mode, so you cannot access it. I do not understand that. Also has "Show volume control on the taskbar" with a box you need to check if you want to do it but I cannot check box because that also is in a fade mode that you cannot see the black lettering. Although the volume control DOES show on taskbar so now I am totally confused. When I right click the volume control on taskbar, shows volume to highest and mute not checked. I have spent the better part of yesterday just downloading drivers and checking options and trying to find help. Why is this so difficult to figure out?

And your midi and wave volumes are up ??

Where are my midi and wave volumes located?

Oh sorry... Yes, found midi and wave volumes and they are turned way up, nothing muted...

Well, since there is nothing to lose here, let's try another angle.

Boot into Safe Mode and remove Multimedia from Windows Setup as follows: (Note: you may need the Windows 9x installation CD)
-Go to: Start>Settings>Control Panel, 2x clk: Add/Remove Programs.
-Choose the Windows Setup Tab.
-In the list of installed components uncheck Multimedia.
-Click Apply, OK, close Control Panel.
Next, remove media resources entries from the Registry. Back up Registry first!!!
-Start>Run, key in: Regedit
-Expand (+) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\
Control\MediaResources
-Under this key, click once on the yellow folder by: Aux
-Press: Delete on the keyboard
-Click: Yes to confirm key delete
Do the same for the following folders: Midi, Mixer, and Wave.
Next, remove any sound driver remnants:
-Right click: My Computer, choose Properties
-Click on Device Manager tab
-Click on: (+) Sound, Video, and Game Controllers to expand
-Remove all sound card related items under this category by selecting the desired item and clicking: Remove
Once all items are removed, Sound, Video, and Game Controllers no longer appears in the list.
Now reboot, and reinstall the Sound Card Drivers.
(As Windows reboots it redetects the sound card and partially reinstalls multimedia components.)
Next, reinstall the Multimedia component as follows:
-Start>Settings>Control Panel, 2x clk: Add/Remove Programs
-Choose: Windows Setup tab
-In the list of installed components check Multimedia, click: Apply, OK, and close Control Panel.

Now, check the Sound.

WOW , this is a good stumbler!!!!!!!
You Have the ME cd??,
If you do go to my computr/rite clik/propertys/dev mgr/sound& multi/hilight your sound card /clik remove.
Then reboot and let windows find it
Lets see if this will work , it is possible the drivers you have loaded may not work for your mixer too

I do not understand response 15. Backing up registry and Windows 9x installation, etc. I have no clue what you even mean by that. I know NOTHING about computers. Plus how do you start in safe mode? I've never had to do that. I have tried response 16 and that does not work. Someone told me it has to be a setting adjustment. I don't know where else to look to adjust settings, other than all the places I have already tried.

This has me STUMPED !!
Try posting this in the Hardware forum

LETS TRY THIS !!!
Go to control panel/add&remove programs/clik on setup tab/scroll to multi media/double clik/make sure everything is checked!
Let me know, cause if it is just since you formatted , maybe everything wasnt loaded??
Bob

hey, try this it should work. First restart the computer. when you do keep clicking the F1 key. A setup screen will appear. Look towards the left and you'll see an "exit" tab. Highlight that. Now look at the options you have. select "load defaults". It'll ask you if you want to, just click yes. Next click on "exit saving changes". That should do it.

...My best guess would be,, in the move your sound card has become loose. You might want to get someone to unplug and replug in your soundcard. Clean the contact points also.
...But before you do! You may want to try one little thing.
...goto Start;Search;For Files and Folders;(type in)Directx (enter), look for Directx > in the program files folder (not System Files),(select), Setup (Select), look for a file named: dxdiag (run),
...This is usually for games programs, but, you can run tests on sounds/music from here.
...(select the) Sound (Tab at the top), run all the tests. (select the) Music (tab at the top), again run all the music tests on each of the ports.
...In the sound section be sure you have a Device and Driver listed, In the Music, be sure you have both a hardware and software listed for your card.
...When you done: At the bottom right you'll see a save results to file/log (something like that). Save the results.
...Would be nice if you would open the log file the Sound and Music section. Return and post the results, to these 2 sections only.
...From the results we'll be able to see what your computer is picking up as far as hardware and software, what pathways are operating, and what ports are working.