The more I "fix" my computer, the more I screw it up. Please help.

[usmovers_02]

Okay, recently my computer decided it was done booting. I fixed that problem (after trying MANY other options) by reinstalling to OS. I thought I'd lose all my files but I didn't. They were all stored in a backup folder. But when I took the files back out of the back up folder, many files didn't work and almost EVERYTHING required me to be an administrator even though I AM the ONLY user and an administrator. But for the most part, this hasn't really been an issue.

However, I recently decided to replace my Graphics card (which works fine, thank god) and install new speakers. My old speakers required both the speaker jack AND a usb port and worked fine. The new speakers only required the speaker jack (which I seem to have 6 of). No matter what I've tried, I cannot get the new speakers to work. So I tried to reinstall my old speaker. Not happening. I cannot get sound to work at all. PLEASE help.

[Spools]

When you reinstalled the OS, did you reinstall the audio drivers for the motherboard?
If not, go to the manufacturers website and download the latest drivers and reboot.

[usmovers_02]

Well, there was a long period of time after the OS reinstall that the sound worked fine. I also might add that for some reason, my computer doens't recognize the installed dvd drive. It's not even listed in the device manager.

[Extremerc12]

Could you please post our your computer specifications. In particular what motherboard you are using. Again, the question arises, did you install the motherboards sound drivers when you reinstalled your OS. Regardless of the speakers working for a period of time, generally the sound drivers are required for full functionality. My suggestion, as stated by Spools is to download that driver and give it a whirl. I would also just check and make sure you are not muted. Don't just assume that since the volume control panel says it isn't muted that it is in fact not muted. If you keyboard have a mute button built in, I would also try hitting that and seeing if the volume control panel registers a muted state. Odd for it to happen, but I have seen systems become muted by their keyboards and not their control panels.

I am also going to assume here that your speakers have three (3) audio connectors (green, black and orange)? Does the sound card on the motherboard have all those colors or at least the three (3) connections?

Side thought about your DVD drive. Is your hard drive IDE or is it SATA. The same question then can be asked of your DVD drive. Is that IDE or is it SATA. If the answer to both is they are IDE, its might be that your hard drive is set as master on the jumper, the same as the DVD drive. Could try switching the DVD drive to slave on the jumper and seeing if that makes its work again.

Best of luck.

Extreme

[usmovers_02]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have much time ATM so I get get all my specs for you right now. My speakers only have the green jack, no other colors (though my new speakers have a black jack). I have no idea what my drive is (figure that out later). Though I too might have suggested to someone in my situation to make sure they aren't muted, I'm not new to computers and computer problems. I don't pretend to be an expert, but 99.99999% of the time, I've been able to fix the problem myself without even checking the internet, so trust me, I've checked to make sure I'm not muted about 100 million times. Appreciate the response though.

[David M]

Download Belarc Advisor or Speccy to get all your computer hardware specifications.

[usmovers_02]

Heres my specs:

OS: Vista Home Premium

CPU: AMD Phenom X4 9600

Motherboard: ECS MCP61PM-GM (Socket AM2)

Hard Drive: 500GB Western Digital WDC WD50 00AAKS-22YGA SCSI Disk Devise

Audio: High Definition Audio Devise

[Extremerc12]

You should find the audio driver you are looking for on this here website:

http://support.gateway.com/support/d...param=4006254R

Seems that your motherboard is a Gateway board. Is your computer a Gateway by chance? Anyway, the audio driver should be the second driver down. Its a Realtek by the looks of it.

Good luck.

[usmovers_02]

Awesome. My computer is a Gateway. Thanks for the link. Downloading now. I'll post later if it works or not.

[usmovers_02]

Installing the new driver didn't work. I uninstalled the old driver and everything.

[usmovers_02]

bump. Anybody? This is really frustrating.

[Extremerc12]

Here is my only other thought as to what your issue is. You didn't by chance, disable the sound card in device manager did you? Aside from that, maybe you need to nuke and pave again and see if you can rule out a driver or software incompatibility. Back your files up and reinstall again and see if that clears up your issues. Make sure you install all the motherboard drivers from the gateway site thought or from a recovery disk.

[Spools]

The only other thing I can think to check is that the onboard audio is enabled in the BIOS. No reason for it to be disabled but it's worth a check anyway.

[usmovers_02]

That's not a bad idea. Checking that right now.

[usmovers_02]

Interesting. Sound was properly enabled in BIOS and everything. But just for the heck of it (and knowing how weird computers can be at times) I decided to disable sound. As expected, when Windows launced it could find any sound hardware. But when I enabled sound in BIOS again and launched Windows, not only did my old speakers work, but my new ones worked too! Weird fix, but hey, a fix is a fix.

Thanks to all who posted!!