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XP SP2 eliminated my sounds?

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by JimPA215, 2007/08/27.

  1. 2007/08/27
    JimPA215

    JimPA215 Inactive Thread Starter

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    OK, I recently acquired a used laptop. It's a Dell Latitude C640, which I got at a very good price.

    It needed a new hard drive, so I got one and installed XP Professional which originally came with the laptop. I then went through some rather large download updates from Microsoft - thank god I have a DSL connection!

    Everything was working with the updates downloading and installing fine. Then it downloaded and installed SP2.
    The download and install worked as it should.

    However, before I downloaded and installed SP2, the internal sound was working just fine and dandy. After the install, the sound does NOT work at all.

    So I thought (I know, that's dangerous stuff - thinking!) that maybe I needed to upgrade the sound device drivers.
    So I proceeded to Dell's site and sure enough found an updated driver. I downloaded and installed it.

    Now the updated driver I downloaded from Dell was for the Crystal SoundFusion application. Which supposedly is the one Dell suggests for this model laptop.

    But nowhere in my program list from the Start menu, is the "Crystal SoundFusion" application listed. :rolleyes:

    Still no sound...so thinking again (see the problem here? LOL) I went into Control Panel, System folder and clicked on the Device Manager tab. I double-clicked on the Sound, Multimedia folder and discovered that there is NO sound board listed. Appartently the sound board is on the motherboard - but it is NOT listed.

    There are other listings though.
    Here they are:
    Audio Codecs​
    Crystal WDM Audio Codecs​
    Legacy Audio Drivers​
    Legacy Video Capture Devices​
    Media Control Devices​
    Video Codecs​

    When I go into "Properties" for Crystal - it says it is enabled, but not started. How do I start it?

    When I go into "Properties" for ANY of the other ones listed, the drop down list to enable it is grayed out.
    It says the drivers are installed, but it won't let me enable the devices. :mad:

    If I exit out of everything and try to click on the "Volume Control" in All Programs, Accesories, Entertainment folder it gives me any error dialog box that reads:
    "There are no active mixer devices available. To install a mixer device, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, then click on Add Hardware. "

    Well, first of all, in Control Panel, this is no such application. You can either install Printers, OR you can Add Hardware - they are NOT together (Ok, small point).

    If I try to go into Add Hardware and go thru the menus (yes, it is already connected), it does recognize everything listed in the Device Manager. But when I click on each one, it says everything is working properly and they all have drivers installed.

    Yet still NO sound! Argh! :mad:

    So I am thinking...(yea, I know, there he goes thinking again!) that somehow or other SP2 did domething to my sound system.

    Any ideas on how to fix this problem? :confused:

    Granted, the laptop speakers are nothing to write home about, but even if I connect headphones, I still don't get any sound. The only sound I ever get is a beep from error codes.

    I should mention that also before the SP2 upgrade I had a Volume Control in the taskbar, now I don't.

    Any help will be much apprecriated.
    Thanks in advance!

    Since this is my first post - let me just say how much this BBS reminds me of the old (ancient?) message boards I used to read on Compuserve (before AOL took them over).

    Yea, I know - there he goes thinking again - besides showing his age! I guess in dog years (similiar to computer age) I'm about at 5 or 6. :D
     
    Last edited: 2007/08/27
    JimPA215,
    #1
  2. 2007/08/27
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Thanks for the detailed post... I must say I skimped over it, so here I go:

    First suggestion: If you ever need to reinstall, before downloading ANY updates, download & install the latest service pack 1st! That eliminates quite a lot of stuff you wont need.

    You can also Slipstream SP2 into the original XP install & burn a new disk.

    As to your sound problem, from device manager, right click Crystal WDM Audio Codecs and select uninstall. Then click Action on the device manager menu, and click Scan for hardware changes. That should re-detect your sound card (and possibly prompt for the drivers).
     
    Arie,
    #2


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  4. 2007/08/29
    JimPA215

    JimPA215 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok - I tried your fix for my sound problem. I did everything just the way you described it. However, I still get the message that the device is enabled, but not started.

    And when I click on the Volume Control in Accessories>Entertainment - it still gives me the error message that no mixer device is installed. (or at least that Windoze is not finding it)

    Any further suggestions?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    JimPA215,
    #3
  5. 2007/08/30
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi, Jim. Welcome to Windows BBS! :)

    Perhaps "Crystal" is a service???

    • Click Start > Run...
    • Type [FONT= "Courier New"][SIZE= "3"]services.msc[/SIZE][/FONT] in the "Open:" field.
    • Click the OK button.
    Perhaps you will find an audio-related service that needs to be started/set to "Automatic ".


    One Suggested Solution at http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1123466906:
     
    Last edited: 2007/08/30
    mailman,
    #4

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