Help - losing my mind over Windows XP driver search

scoutabout

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We've got an older off-brand desktop that my wife mostly uses (I do most of my recreational online stuff with my iPad). The machine was acting up in all sorts of strange ways a while ago that no amount of fiddling or malware hunting could fix.

In the end I decided to wipe the drive completely, start again and reinstall Windows XP. I probably should have taken the thing somewhere for this work as I'm not overly computer savvy and know just enough to be a danger to myself and those around me...

Anyway, after a frustrating few hours reinstalling and updating Windows the thing is mostly back to normal with the exception of my ability to hear sound.

When I go poking around in the Device Manager I get the yellow question marks beside Audio Device and High Definition Audio Bus as well as beside the one underneath called RAID Controller

In the Control Panel Sounds and Devices window the Volume tab is grayed out with No Device Installed message displayed

However under the Hardware tab all audio devices, codec and drivers indicate Working Properly

I thought I might go online for sound drivers but the real frustration is that (don't know why the supplied CD didn't do the trick) I can't seem to avoid the scammers, malware purveyors and snake oil salemen no matter what kind of search I do for drivers.

So....could someone please confirm for me

a) new drivers are needed based upon info above
b) direct me to a download site where I can get a driver for the sound card from a reputable source? And is this an issue if I don't know what kind of card I have? I'd be happy to let some scan do the work but they all seem to be offered by the above-noted shady outfits...

My family and my cardiologist thank you!
 

MTboatguy

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Most likely the sound system in built into the mother board, if you can let me know what mother board your system has in it, I should be able to find the drivers for you.
 

Tnstratofam

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With Microsoft no longer providing updates for XP it wont be long before the only hep you may find for XP or any software associated with it may come from questionable sources. I have an older desktop which has XP that I've pretty much resigned it to music storage, and light internet browsing. When it starts flaking out I'm gonna dump her. Even the best security software doesn't guarantee an XP system will be safe from bad people exploiting holes in old software that Microsoft isn't providing patches for anymore. I'd be shopping for a new computer, or at the least a new operating system. Just my .02 cents.
 

alldodge

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Have a simular issue with no sound on my old Dell laptop which I use in the shop. After upgrading from XP to Win 7 the drive provided does not work. I go to windows update and it provides me a new driver but after install it states that it failed to install. Would be nice but no biggie for what I use it for
 

MTboatguy

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I still have a couple of windows XP computers and they are very well protected, I run them behind a hard firewall, that catches virtually everything, I also have a program I wrote that will catch stuff as it tries to get through. That said, If you can let me know what mother board you have, I should be able to find a legitimate and safe driver for the sound system. If you can't figure it out through the control panel, just open the box up and the majority of mother boards manufactured in the last 25 years, will have that information stenciled on the board itself.
 

MTboatguy

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Have a simular issue with no sound on my old Dell laptop which I use in the shop. After upgrading from XP to Win 7 the drive provided does not work. I go to windows update and it provides me a new driver but after install it states that it failed to install. Would be nice but no biggie for what I use it for

What model of Dell laptop do you have, you can run XP drivers under windows 7, but you have to do it in compatibility mode. Let me know what model it is and I should be able to dig something up for you.
 

bruceb58

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If you are installing a new OS, ditch XP and install Windows 7.
 

MTboatguy

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If you are installing a new OS, ditch XP and install Windows 7.

I agree with Bruce, if you are installing new, then go with Win 7, if you are stuck with XP, then there are still solutions to keep it running.
 

thumpar

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When I am having problems identifying the correct driver for something I look up the hardware id. In the device manager properties of each device go into the details tab. Make sure the pull down has Hardware ids selected. Type the top line of that into google and you will find lots of info. I would recommend going to the manufactures website once you know the make and model from the search. There are a lot of sites that say they have the driver but mostly just have junk.
 

rbh

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What does it take to upgrade from XP to windows 7?

Is it a down load or do you have to buy a disc??

Will Windows 7 write over Windows XP or do you need to do a back up then reinstall all the programs?
 

MTboatguy

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When I am having problems identifying the correct driver for something I look up the hardware id. In the device manager properties of each device go into the details tab. Make sure the pull down has Hardware ids selected. Type the top line of that into google and you will find lots of info. I would recommend going to the manufactures website once you know the make and model from the search. There are a lot of sites that say they have the driver but mostly just have junk.

Even though XP support has been discontinued by Microsoft, most of the manufactures of equipment still have the latest drivers available for download, I never play games with those download services, I always go to the manufacture of the item you need the driver for, those download services are for the birds, they want to show you advertising and many times don't have what you need.
 

MTboatguy

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What does it take to upgrade from XP to windows 7?

Is it a down load or do you have to buy a disc??

Will Windows 7 write over Windows XP or do you need to do a back up then reinstall all the programs?

You have to buy a disc, or order a download from Microsoft, or talk real nice to guys like me, who has an OEM disc because of my membership in the Microsoft developers network as well as being an OEM company. Yes, it will install over XP, Yes, it is recommended you back everything up and Yes, you will have to re-install your programs, some of them will not be able to run under Win 7, so they will have to be run in compatibility mode, which works fine. When you go to install Win 7, it will come up with a menu that you can choose to re-format, or you can choose to back up. If you want to start the process, it is recommended that you go to Microsoft and download the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser, which will run, scan your computer hardware as well as software and give you a list of stuff that is on your computer that is compatible as well as things that will need to be upgraded.
 

thumpar

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Even though XP support has been discontinued by Microsoft, most of the manufactures of equipment still have the latest drivers available for download, I never play games with those download services, I always go to the manufacture of the item you need the driver for, those download services are for the birds, they want to show you advertising and many times don't have what you need.
If you don't know the manufacturer you have to start somewhere. My suggestion for the google search was only to find out what the product is. You don't even have to open any of the links. The short preview that google shows will be enough. I said to then go the the manufacturers site. There have been many times that I has seen generic parts that don't have a label or any indication of manufacturer and that is how I find a driver.
 

MTboatguy

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If you don't know the manufacturer you have to start somewhere. My suggestion for the google search was only to find out what the product is. You don't even have to open any of the links. The short preview that google shows will be enough. I said to then go the the manufacturers site. There have been many times that I has seen generic parts that don't have a label or any indication of manufacturer and that is how I find a driver.

Thumpar, all of the equipment in your computer has an FCC ID number and you can track the manufacture down by the number, all cards, mother boards, usb, etc. devices sold in the US are required by law to have that FCC ID number. The majority of stuff may have a company name associated with them, but in fact they were manufactured by another company, like Dell, there mother boards all have the Dell name on them, but for the most part, they are actually Intel Mother boards manufactured by Intel's China division and that is what the FCC number will let you know.
 
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thumpar

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That will sometimes work but not as reliable as the Hardware ids method. There have been times when the FCC id led me on a wild goose chase. The hardware id will give you manufacturer and model. Look up some of them for your devices. It is the easiest way. There have been times that I didn't feel like pulling a card out to see if it had a label so just use the hardware id because it is faster.
 

MTboatguy

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That will sometimes work but not as reliable as the Hardware ids method. There have been times when the FCC id led me on a wild goose chase. The hardware id will give you manufacturer and model. Look up some of them for your devices. It is the easiest way. There have been times that I didn't feel like pulling a card out to see if it had a label so just use the hardware id because it is faster.

Well it seems, we both have solutions that work for us when searching for an equipment manufacture, I have used hardware ID numbers at times to track down a manufacture as well. Often times a Hardware number and an FCC number will be the same. One will be integrated into the other

Back to the original poster, id the mother board and I should be able to find a driver for you.
 
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scoutabout

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I still have a couple of windows XP computers and they are very well protected, I run them behind a hard firewall, that catches virtually everything, I also have a program I wrote that will catch stuff as it tries to get through. That said, If you can let me know what mother board you have, I should be able to find a legitimate and safe driver for the sound system. If you can't figure it out through the control panel, just open the box up and the majority of mother boards manufactured in the last 25 years, will have that information stenciled on the board itself.

Thanks MT - When I go into Device Manager under Sounds I have a list of stuff but two items appear to refer to hardware specifically, one says AMD High Definition Audio Device and the other, SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec.

I should also report that after I posted this I found one final CD rattling around in a drawer labelled Intel Express Drivers. Using that and the driver update wizard it located a Sigma Tel driver. I've installed that and while I do have sound of sorts now it's incredible muddy - sounds like the speakers are underwater. When I click on a youtube video the sound comes and goes in waves, sometimes emphasizing voices, at other times music - like it doesn't know what to do with the channels or something.

Does that AMD reference help you at all?
 

MTboatguy

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If you want to do it, download a copy of cpuid from this link and then install and run it, it should tell you what every single process as well as the hardware installed on your system, including cpu, memory, motherboard, the link is:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/pc-wi...s-history.html

Also, you can go to the AMD support website and should be able to find the latest drivers by following their instructions, it is located at:

http://support.amd.com/en-us
 
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