Disappearing Sound Card Driver

[RJay]

Over the last couple of days every time I shutdown or restart my computer the soundcard driver disappears. I've done all the checks I can think of but can't seem to find the cause and I haven't installed any new software recently to cause a conflict. It's a VIA AC'97 running on Windows 98se, has anyone out there any ideas please.

[Markoman01027]

Does your motherboard have onboard audio?

-Matt

[RJay]

Matt
Yes it does

[GaryRouth]

Make any changes just recently? (Did you recently update MediaPlayer, for example?). Have you been in the System Configuration program lately - are you running a normal startup, or a selective startup?

[System Configuration = Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information . . .from the "Tools" menu, select System Configuration Tool.] If you are using a selective startup that is bypassing the normal loading of your sound drivers, that would do it.

You can also try booting into Safe Mode [press F8 or hold down the shift key while booting . . . or hold down the CTRL keys and select Safe Mode from the menu]. And check Device Manager while you're in Safe Mode [press the Windows key and the Break key at the same time - or: Start/Settings/Control Panel/System]. Look under Sound, Video, and Game Controllers. You should see an exact match for your system. Since you've had a problem for a little while now, you can try removing all the sound devices, and let Windows re-detect and reinstall them at reboot. You'll need to have the sound drivers for your Via onboard handy, in case they aren't on the Win98SE CD (which they like are).

Post again If none of this helps
. . . Gary

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