Windoze Sound Problems - SOLVED

[Martin109]

I really don't know anything about sound technology on computers.

I've set up Windoze on our spare laptop, but sound seems to be a problem.  No sounds through the laptop (either system sounds or any other sound source, like YouTube or an audio CD, but all these work OK if I plug in the Logitech headset.

If I look at Control Panel->Sounds & Audio Devices->Hardware, I get the following list:

Audio Codecs
Legacy Audio Drivers
Media Control Devices
Legacy Video Capture Devices
Video Codecs
USB Audio Device

The last is the headset, but does this list mean the computer has no sound card?  How can it play through the headset, then?  As soon as I unplug the headset, the system tells me:

Windows Media Player cannot play the file because there's a problem with your sound device.  There may not be a sound device installed on your computer, it may be in use by another program, or it may not be functioning properly.

Forgive the numpty questions, but how do I get sound going?

[Tewdric]

Maybe you have the headphones set as the default playback device?  You possibly need to set this to be the lapdog speakers - there is an option in Control Panel.

[TimO]

It sounds like the headset is the only sound device that Windows can find, but this could simply be a missing driver issue, rather than the laptop not having any sound device (which would be unusual).

Have you looked at the website of the laptop manufacturer/supplier, to see if they have any sound drivers for the machine?  (Although I'd normally expect that to have been installed before you got it).

[Biggsy]

Martin said he's setup Windows.  I assume that means a fresh install - so that would overwrite any sound driver installed previously.

Yes I found that you normally need to obtain/download a sound driver for the particular machine after installing Windows.

The headset being a USB thing: I suppose that means it's got its own sound driver, which is clevery seperate everything else.

[Martin109]

Maybe you have the headphones set as the default playback device?  You possibly need to set this to be the lapdog speakers - there is an option in Control Panel.

If I go to Control Panel->Sounds & Audio Devices->Audio and the headset is unplugged, every there is greyed out, and it states 'No playback device' under 'Sound Playback' 'Default Device'.  If I plug in the headset, it's then the only one listed under the 'Sound Playback' dropdown list.

Is there a way to ascertain what hardware there actually is (like Linux would do)?

[Martin109]

Martin said he's setup Windows.  I assume that means a fresh install - so that would overwrite any sound driver installed previously.

Yes I found that you normally need to obtain/download a sound driver for the particular machine after installing Windows.

The headset being a USB thing: I suppose that means it's got its own sound driver, which is clevery seperate everything else.

Actually, the basic install was done for me, and I've just tweaked and added stuff.

I'll go looking for a sound driver then.  It's a Compaq nc6000.

[TimO]

Martin said he's setup Windows. ...

Somehow I missed that.

Yes, sound cards not working is pretty common with fresh installs.  Likewise with video cards only working with a subset of modes, and other devices not working as fast as they could.

Is there a way to ascertain what hardware there actually is (like Linux would do)?

The Device Manager (from Control Panel->System->Hardware) may have a bright yellow question mark next to stuff it doesn't know what to do with.  A sound card may appear like that if it knows the hardware is there, but it's unsure how to deal with it.

[TimO]

I'll go looking for a sound driver then.  It's a Compaq nc6000.

It looks like there are some sound drivers available (assuming you're running Windows XP).

[Martin109]

I'll go looking for a sound driver then.  It's a Compaq nc6000.

It looks like there are some sound drivers available (assuming you're running Windows XP).

Yes, thanks TimO and everyone else.  Problem now sorted.

[TimO]

Cool.