Curse

TaggSilar · Dec 11, 2009, 03:21 AM // 03:21

recently had to use my restore disc for windows xp and in the process of repairing my computers, a few of my sound drivers were lost. now none of my sound devices are recognized, be it my headset or speakers. I have looked online and downloaded quite a few drivers in hopes of fixing the problem. I have already downloaded a realtek driver which is supposed to were for almost all devices, and around 5 or 6 nvidia drivers which i read are supposed to fix the problem. what has been happening is i install these drivers, it tells me to restart, but when i reboot, nothing has changed. I even tried downloading a driver from the microsoft site, but it did not help. does anyone know of any drivers that would help? or if i were to reformat (been thinking about reformatting for some time now) would it fix the problem with my sound drivers?

if you need to see my specs please reply and let me know and i will edit my post.

*Also, i have tried going to my headset manufacturer site, speaker manufacturer site, motherboard manufacturer site and even graphics card site but nothing seems to help

Bob Slydell · Dec 11, 2009, 05:09 AM // 05:09

Go into your device manager by right clicking my computer and selecting properties. Top> Hardware Tab> Device Manager. Look for devices with a Yellow "!" exclamation. You should be able to right click then and install/update drivers and even let Windows automatically go out and look for the appropriate drivers on your PC or the Internet.

Elder III · Dec 11, 2009, 03:22 PM // 15:22

what make and model of sound card do you have? Or, if it is integrated into the motherboard, what mobo do you have?

Quaker · Dec 11, 2009, 03:45 PM // 15:45

You can't just install any old "sound driver" and expect it to work. You need to have the drivers for your specific audio device (either a discrete sound card or on-board sound).
There should be a CD/DVD that came with your computer and/or motherboard, with the appropriate drivers on it. (They may ne called "chipset drivers" if the sound is on-board.)

Another way to get the drivers would be to let Windows Update find drivers for you. The sound drivers from WU may be listed under "optional updates". You might need to run WU a couple of times if there are other Updates to install.