Problem with my computer sound?

Question

the speakers are located on the monitor. Audio files play, but there's no sound coming out. The problem is not with the mute button, or low volume. The wires work fine too (tried on another computer). The problem isn't with the actual inbuilt speakers, because they play music from my laptop, when connected to it. I've plugged in earphones to both the screen "headphones" section and the actual soundcard, but nothing happens, just get static from the screen and nothing from the soundcard.

i haven't yet opened up my computer to check the actual soundcard. is this the next step? loose connection? or is there something i've missed?

Answer 1

How old is this system? Hardware does fail after a while. No hardware stays fully functional for an indefinate period of time. However, if this system is four to five years old, the sound card should still work.

With that said, you need to check out the driver first. Drivers are small coded programs which allows the hardware to speak to the system, and tells the system what features the hadware has. And vise versa, allows the system to speak to the hardware and tell it when to turn on, off, and to function properly.

Because the driver is code, a file can easily become corrupt. If even one file in a driver becomes corrupt it can cause the entire hardware to fail. So, I would suggest you go to either the computer manufacturers website and locate a current driver, download and install via the Device Manager. It is very simple.

However, please note that you will need to set a Restore Point before installing or updating drivers. Drivers are the number one cause of BSOD--Blue Screen of Death, or system crashes. Setting a manual Restore Point will enable you to update your driver with the assurance you have a viable point in time to return the system too should anything go amiss. While the system usually sets a Restore Point before drivers and other types of changes occur with a system, by placing a manual Restore Point and giving it a desciptive name, you can easily pinpoint the date and time and go back to it without having to guess when the change occured.

To set a manual Restore Point is done in a few short moments:

Start--Help and Support, Help and Support opens. In Help and Support locate the link to System Restore and click on it. It may just say, System Restore, or it may have a sentence, such as, "Undo changes to your system using System Restore", it all depends upon the manufacturer. One of mine just says the name of the applet, the other has the sentence.

When System Restore opens, it is easy to follow the instruction on each page. Select the radial button in front of Set a Manual Restore Point. and click Next.

Name your Restore Point. Use a descriptive name such as Updated Sound Card Driver. Use the name of the sound card if you wish. Click Next, and then Finish, and you are done.

Ok, the next option you have is to replace the sound card if the updated driver fails to fix your issue. Replacing sound cards is not difficult. You can choose to go with the Vendor of your current card, or another vendor. Be sure to select one which your motherboard can handle.

Replacing a sound card is not a huge issue. It also is not a huge upgrade as replacing a video card could be. While you could go with a really expensive sound card with all the bells and whistles, a regular basic sound card is sufficent.

Please note that whenever you open your system, be sure to unplug it, not just turn it off, and even with it unplugged you need to ground the hardware. You would be amazed at the damage static electricity can cause a system. It can burn hardware out quickly, all the way to the motherboard. Fry it to a place where you would need to either buy a new system, or replace all the fried parts. To ground yourself and the system buy a inexpensive wristband, and plug it into the socket as instructed. Some people simply touch a part of the metal, but that is still taking a chance of burning out, if you regain static on your body while working inside your system.

You narrowed it down very well. You did all the steps required to ensure it was not something small. Now, you need to go to the next step of locating a driver and updating and if that doesn't work replacing the card itself.

Good luck and I hope it is just the driver. Have nice day.

Answer 2

Goto Device Manager (Start>Run>compmgmt.msc). Search for ur audio card there. If there's a hindrance with it, u will see a yellow "!" subsequent to it. Just double-click on on it, press Reinstall Drivers, insert the driving force CD (most often ur motherboard cd), reboot, the whole lot will have to be great now. Even if this did not paintings, get Service Pack two in your XP after which check out once more.

Answer 3

Did you install your soundcard driver? Try reinstalling it. You can also check the status of your driver in the Device Manager (right click "My Computer", click "Hardware", click "Device Manager")

Answer 4

check ur soundcard... but try reinstalling the drivers. if not... go in control panel and check ur sound options. see if anything is muted...