My daughter had to reinstall xp and now her computer has no sound. If anyone can help, it would really be appreciated.

kazzmo,
We are good but not good enough to work without any data.

Please describe your daughter's system. Is there internal sound from a chip on the motherboard or is there a sound card? What is the brand and model for either?

What, if any, errors does Device Manager show? Does your daughter know how to access Device Manager? Have you checked for DirectX errors with DXDiag? If errors were reported, what were they?

Is this computer a desktop or a laptop ?
If your daughter has onboard sound , then the motherboard's sound drivers have to be re installed , if that attempt has not already been made . The sound drivers should be located on the support disc if your daughter has one , or they can be downloaded via the computer manufacturer's web site if this is a pre manufactured computer . Another alternative would be to purchase a sound card . If you already have a sound card , then a install or re install of the drivers should alleviate the problem . Per what has been stated , a check of the device manager should divulge the fault behind the sound problem , & dxdiag will also provide that information .

You most likely need to reinstall the driver for the sound card. If your computer is from a brand name manufacture you should be able to go to their support website and download the nessary sound card driver. You will need to know the model of the computer to do this.Also you most likely will need the video card driver and the usb driver for the usb ports to work at usb 2 speeds.You can check in device manager to see what windows has found that needs drivers to work.If your computer was custom built then you will have to go to the website of the company that built the mother board to get the drivers.Also make sure that you have the speakers connected to the correct port on the computer. The correct port is most likly green in color.Also make sure that the volume is turned up on the speakers and the sound mixer in windows xp and that the mute is not turned on.

Sound advice , albeit a fraction incorrect . Unless the sound source is a usb powered sound card , and there are a few out there , then usb drivers for sound are irrelevant . As a matter of fact , any usb drivers should have been installed along with the fresh XP install , or can be obtained by installing Service Pack 3 for XP. If the monitor or laptop screen is not functioning , then updated video drivers , while necessary , is basically meaningless in order for sound to properly function . If there is a dedicated sound card , then updated drivers can be obtained from the sound card manufacturer web site . If the sound source is indeed onboard , then downloading drivers from the computer manufacturer (provided this is a pre manufactured computer) is quite correct . As for a custom made computer that is utilizing onboard sound , any necessary drivers should have come on a support cd provided by the motherboard manufacturer .

If you have a sound card and also have a motherboard that came with onboard sound, make sure you plug the speakers into the sound card.

If you give us the name and model number of the computer, we can look for the drivers for you (e.g. Dell Dimension 8400).

If it's a custom built computer that doesn't have a brand name, we'd need the name and model number of the motherboard (e.g. GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3).

If you have a separate sound card, we'd need the name and model number of the sound card (e.g. Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1).

Thanks for all your replies, but this computer will not even boot in safe mode now. Seems like a lost cause.

If pressing f8 will not get you into safe mode it might be because of the keyboard. Some of the expensive keyboards default the f keys to other funtions like media controls and you need to press a funtion key down while using the f keys to get the f key funtions instead of the expanded controls. I have seen this on microsoft and logitech keyboards. I would try a basic keyboard if possible and make sure that if your mouse and keyboard are ps2 instead of ubb make sure they are connected to the correct ps2 ports.Alot of laptops have the dual funtions on the f keys also.Note when trying to enter safe mode with the f8 key it sometimes helps to keep tapping the f8 key when you start up the computer.

If the only problems are the lack of sound and problems getting to Safe Mode, it isn't a lost cause.


Mostly I've seen this "feature" on laptops. On a laptop, it can be disabled in the BIOS so you don't have to press the Fn key along with the F8 key to get the option for Safe Mode. I don't think you'd have this option on a desktop though.

Kazzmo, you didn't mention if this is a laptop, but if it is, you should be able to download audio drivers from the manufacturer's website.

If your computer is brand name there might be a hidden restore section on the harddrive.On hp and compaq it usally can be ran by pressing f10 or or f11 when the computer is started up. other companies have this also but the key you press may be different. If your computer has this and you run the restore the computer will be back to the way it was when you bought it new. You will lose any documents and files you added to the computer when you do this so make sure you backup any important files first if possible. Note this will only restore drivers for hardware that came with the computer. it will not put in drivers for hardware that was added after the computer was bought.

Sound advice , however , as the computer is incapable of entering safe mode at this time , being able to access system repair or system restore is a moot point . At this time , performing a fresh install of Windows may be the only way to revive the computer .

How will we get the computer to read the disk, all it does is reboot?

What is the disk, kazzmo? When did this start happening? You first posted that there was no sound? There is a lot of information missing that would help folks figure this out. Jenny asked for the make and model of the computer, if possible. That would be a start. Why did your daughter have to reinstall XP to begin with?

The computer is a Dell 8300, about 10 years old. The computer ran fine, she used it everyday, and she was just doing some general clean up. She ran CCleaner and when she turned the computer back on it just constantly reboots and will not go into safe mode, I am not sure where she got the idea there is no sound, do not know how she can tell. She is not a patient person. Thank you for your time, but I guess there is nothing we can do for her. I think she is just going to junk the computer. I am afraid to use CCleaner on my computers now, guess I had better uninstall it. Thanks again for your time.

I have used CCleaner every week for many years now and also use it on all the computers I work on and have never had a problem. CCleaner had nothing to do with this issue. A "boot loop" can mean many things including a failing motherboard. A 10 year-old computer that has served her well is probably just finally gasping it's last breath. You could always take it in to a tech shop and see if they could revive it or at least give you a diagnosis.

You might have bad caps on the motherboard and in the power supply. Older dell computers are known for this.Here are 2 links as to what bad caps look like.
http://loopyfilms.blogspot.com/2007/12/bad-caps-strike-again.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDGjWOabJ2E

You may be right, 10 years is old for a computer.

Donald, thank you for the links, I will pass them along to her.

In the PC world , a 10 year old PC is ancient . However , if it still functions , then so much the better ! I have not used Ccleaner personally , but know people who have . More often than not , Ccleaner ran trouble free , but there was an occasional instance where the program did more harm than good . Faulty capacitors on the motherboard is quite possible . Faulty capacitors in the PSU is also possible as well , but may not be the root cause of the problems being experienced . It is certainly not out of the question however . If the PC was functioning normally before using Ccleaner , then maybe it has done something to the hard drive . There may be one way to find out .

As this is a Dell PC , when you power on the PC , keep pressing f12 to enter the bios . From the boot menu , highlight the cd/dvd drive , and set it to boot first when the PC powers on . Save the changes , then proceed . Put the OS disc in the PC , then reboot . Windows should detect the OS cd . There will be a black screen that says "press any key to boot from cd . Press any key to start an install of Windows . If the install proceeds as normal , then things should be ok . However , if the PC keeps rebooting during the OS install , it may very well be as has been stated with a possible faulty capacitor on the motherboard or in the PSU .

Thank you, I will show this to my daughter, she might need to give it a try.
Creeping_Doom, Thank you, your suggestion worked.