Sound Issues

[flameshad0w]

Ok, so my friend is having issues with sound on his PC, and I've run out of suggestions, so I'm hoping you guys have some.
So, previously, his sound worked completely, but then suddenly (he doesn't remember exactly when) when he turned on the PC one day, there wasn't any sound in Windows at all. However, there was sound in CS and other games.

The sound control speaker in the system tray is gone, and when he went to the sound options in the Control Panel, it gave an error saying that a Sound Device was not found, and all the options were greyed out. He tried a system restore to back when he knew the sound worked, but the system restore didn't help.
I told him to go to the Device Manager and check his sound card model (it did show up in the Device Manager), and linked him to the newest drivers. He installed 'em and they still didn't work.

I suggested he try a cheap sound card to replace the integrated Realtek '97 one he had, so he got a $30 card, installed it, and says everything worked, until he restarted. Now, the sound doesn't even work in games. (He can still return the sound card if it's not a sound card problem)

He currently has the sound card removed, so he's back to the Realtek '97, with no sound in Windows or in games.
He sent me his DxDiag pc info (available on request)

and yes, his speakers are on, and the volume is turned up.


So, does anyone know what could be the problem?

Edit: He tried the "Test DirectSound" button both with Full and No Hardware Acceleration, and got the error:

Originally Posted by DirectSound test results: Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.)

[TwoRails]

Things usually disappear for a reason. Did he do a virus / trogan scan? a disk scan? did he install / uninstall anything else around the time of the original problem? did he try rolling back a Restore Point to a point before the problem? are there any other problems?

[paperoses]

hello guys,

i'm new here and im seeking advise for my pc. my pc is shutting down everytime i played my music on my pc while connecting to the internet. also, im having a problem when im using my Yahoo Messenger, i dont hear anything. i reinstalled my program and clean my pc for possible virus but still the same, no sounds. somebody advised me to buy another motherboard but im have qualm on buying another one. My pc still working, well..with no sounds at all. I have replaced my old sound card but still it didnt work. any suggestions guys? thanks a lot.

[glc]

paperoses, please start your own thread. Thank you.

[paperoses]

ooppssss sorry Mr. Administrator.. i thought i could post it here since we have the same problem. anyways, thanks.