I recently built a new computer, and rashly chose Vista for my OS...and now I can't get the sound to work. To clarify, it has *never* worked since I assembled it last week, no matter what I do to it. Here's what I'm using:
Sound cards:
Asus M2N SLI Deluxe nForce 570 AM2 chipset (onboard SoundMAX)
Sound Blaster Xtreme Audio ("Works with Windows Vista" on the cover)
OS: Vista, 64 bit Ultimate. It's the Builder's Edition, if that makes a difference...
I'm completely, 100%, positively sure that I have the latest drivers from Asus, and from Creative, per their websites, although I've also tried both with just the drivers that came on the disks. I'm also positive I have all relevant updates for Vista, per the "Windows Update" program.
I bought the Sound Blaster to replace the SoundMAX because I had read that it might be incompatible with 64 bit OS's. Since then, I've tried all possible combinations of sound (including installing the Sound Blaster after uninstalling the SoundMAX and disabling it in BIOS). I have made sure to *completely* delete all previous drivers before trying new ones for the same card, and also to uninstall the active card before installing the other card.
Symptoms (with either card installed):
- Taskbar Audio Icon red (X); hover message: "(i) No Audio Output Device is installed."
- Device Manager has (!) next to sound. In Properties, SoundMAX says something like "can't find device," and Sound Blaster says (verbatim), "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)"
- Speakers work on other computers and are configured properly. The problem is completely software-based.
I'm at my wit's end here, guys...I've heard that other people have been able to use Sound Blaster cards in Vista without too much trouble, so I can't understand why my system won't let me do it. I consider myself fairly computer-literate, too, which just makes it that much more embarrassing...any input much appreciated.
Sound cards:
Asus M2N SLI Deluxe nForce 570 AM2 chipset (onboard SoundMAX)
Sound Blaster Xtreme Audio ("Works with Windows Vista" on the cover)
OS: Vista, 64 bit Ultimate. It's the Builder's Edition, if that makes a difference...
I'm completely, 100%, positively sure that I have the latest drivers from Asus, and from Creative, per their websites, although I've also tried both with just the drivers that came on the disks. I'm also positive I have all relevant updates for Vista, per the "Windows Update" program.
I bought the Sound Blaster to replace the SoundMAX because I had read that it might be incompatible with 64 bit OS's. Since then, I've tried all possible combinations of sound (including installing the Sound Blaster after uninstalling the SoundMAX and disabling it in BIOS). I have made sure to *completely* delete all previous drivers before trying new ones for the same card, and also to uninstall the active card before installing the other card.
Symptoms (with either card installed):
- Taskbar Audio Icon red (X); hover message: "(i) No Audio Output Device is installed."
- Device Manager has (!) next to sound. In Properties, SoundMAX says something like "can't find device," and Sound Blaster says (verbatim), "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)"
- Speakers work on other computers and are configured properly. The problem is completely software-based.
I'm at my wit's end here, guys...I've heard that other people have been able to use Sound Blaster cards in Vista without too much trouble, so I can't understand why my system won't let me do it. I consider myself fairly computer-literate, too, which just makes it that much more embarrassing...any input much appreciated.