I don't have any idea what happened but the sound just stopped working, I have a Dell computer with windows XP. The video card is built in to the mother board but I don't think anything is wrong with the hardware. When I try to play a song in realplayer it says that another program is using the audio software and hardware but I can't find anything using it or stopping it from working, I have checked all the drivers and there are no conflicts. Please help if you know what to check. I'm out of ideas.
This might seem really basic but have you tried other audio programs? Like Windows Media Player, etc? Just to see if it's a RealPlayer issue or a Device/Driver issue. Also, try uninstalling/reinstalling the device driver? Lastly, do your windows sounds still work? ie is it just movies/songs that don't play or are the speakers entirely mute?
Now has sound I already did everything to the drivers etc. Finally found that the plug on the end of the speaker cord is bad. You would never know it to look at it but it is. I fixed with new plug from radio shack and all is well.
Is it an AC97 chipset? They are notorious for dying! If it is the only thing you can do is get a cheap soundcard and install it.
