Where can I find out about my sound card on my computer?

Question

I have been trying to find out why my speakers arent working and everytime I try to use the windows media player I get an error message that says there is no sound card

Answer 1

Whenever there is a audio problem, programs that require sound would give that particular error message. Error messages are often misleading - even if you did not install a sound/audio card, an onboard one is installed on computers in general.

It could be that the driver file may have become corrupted, so you will have to replace it.

You either have a sound card, or onboard sound. Which is it?

If you have onboard sound, then you have to go to your computer manufacturers (try first!) or motherboard manufacturers ( the easiest way to find the mobo mfg. out would be to just open the case and look for the information and model number. It should be clearly printed smack in the middle area of the board, or else somewhere by the video card and PCI slots.) website to download the driver, if you can't find it here...
DriverGuide
http://www.driverguide.com/

If you have a sound card in one of yout PCI slots, try unseating the card and reseating it to reset it, boot up and the system will automatically detect the "new" device. If that doesn't work, you will have to reinstall the device driver. Get it directly from THEIR web site for optimum performance, or you may be able to find it here....
Driver World - sound card driver mfg. list site listed A-Z.
http://www.driverworld.dk/indexn.html

You may need to unzip the driver files - if you don't have a utility installed:
Zip Reader
http://www.pkware.com/home_and_small_office/downloads/windows/reader/
Free Zip
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/
http://www.winzip.com/

Answer 2

Greetings, the above answers are half-right. Most likely you have onboard sound as every computer does. If you are getting the message as you said from Windows Media Player then that means the system does not have the drivers installed or you have the wrong drivers installed. If you know how, go into the Device Manager and look at the devices listed there. If the sound card is present and detected and no drivers are installed you will see a section called Unknown Devices and Multimedia Controller listed there. In this event you simply have to go the computer manufacturer's website and get your drivers based on your system model number. If you see the yellow exclamation point on anything, this usually means that there are drivers installed but they are the wrong ones and the device cannot start. Fixing this takes following the steps I mentioned above (go to computer manufacturer site and download the right drivers based on your system).

If you see neither of these then it is likely that the onboard sound is disabled in your computer's BIOS. To fix this reboot the machine and when the box powers up press the appropriate key to enter the BIOS screen (delete, f2, f12 are some of the commone keys). Once in the BIOS screen look for a section for onboard devices or advanced controls and look for onboard audio and make sure it is set to enabled or auto. Then press f10 and yes to save the changes and exit and let windows reboot. If this was done correctly then Windows should auto detect the sound card and ask for the drivers. Here again you will have to go to the system manufacturer's website and download the drivers and install them.

It sounds complicated but is actually really easy if you follow the instructions. Good luck and if you need assistance feel free to send an email.

Answer 3

You can right click on the My Computer icon from your desktop and select properties. If you are running XP you have to click on the Hardware tab. Next, click on Device Manager button. A list will pop up, and you should find Sound, video and game controllers. Next, double click on that or click on the + sign. Look to see if you any of the device has an x. If you see it, you may need to reinstall the driver. To procedure is to select the trouble device and hit delete. This is remove the bad device from your config. After you do that, close out of everything. Reboot the PC. When windows boot up, it will say something like " Oh, i found a new device". Then you can instruct it to re-install the drive. It should fix it.
If your sound card is an added on, meaning it is not on the motherboard, you can also open your computer case to see if your sound card is plugged in right. Newer PC all have built-in sound card anyway.

Answer 4

Seems like its not installed. If its onboard sound, meaning built-on to the motherboard, it'll be hard to find out who makes it. But if its an actual card that was put into the computer you can remove the card and the brand and model should be on it then you can just do Google for the company and once at the companys' Web site usually drivers are found under Support.

Answer 5

There are a pair issues i will propose. click the beginning up button, and decide run. sort dxdiag and run the audio exams. in the event that they run ok, and you do no longer pay attention something, then it extremely is not any longer likely a driver issue. flow into the administration panel and decide gadget and device supervisor. examine on the checklist for yellow or pink tags next to any contraptions. If there are none then it extremely is not any longer likely a hardware issue. you additionally could ensure the headphones or audio gadget are plugged into the perfect ports. additionally open the sound residences to ensure the device is chosen on the checklist and that the quantity settings are up and not muted. In my journey, I swap between usb and soundblaster settings.

Answer 6

Inorder to check for your sound card.....follw this....

Start
My Computer
Right click on My Computer ......select Properties.....
select Hardware
Go to Device Manager and check for your card...

Hope this helps....

Answer 7

go to control panel then system look for sound click on the plus sign to expand and should tell you there