I have been without sound for forever it seems and it is really starting to bug me. It happened shortly after I had to do a quick restore on my compaq. I can hear the white noise (hiss) when I turn the external speakers up to max and can hear sound faintly. There is power to the speakers. When I click on the speaker icon on the task bar and the window opens with all the slide controls, the mute is NOT checked and the slider for Volme Control is all the way down to the bottom. When I slide it up, the volume works, it just won't stay up, it slides right back to the bottom and voila, I can't hear anything!!! What the heck am I missing here??? Any ideas greatly appreciated!!
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Volume Control Slider will not stay up - No Sound
- Thread starter SueMO
- Start date
The same thing happened to me, and for the longest time I couldn't figure it out, but what ended up working was that my winamp player's volume was down, so as soon as I adjusted it to max, then any program I used including the sound control master volume slider stayed up at max.
Check any and all applications that uses sound including Windows Media Player and Winamp, and Jukebox, etc.
Hope this helps!
"Quest for the Cup - 2002!"
"Onto the 3rd round!"
Check any and all applications that uses sound including Windows Media Player and Winamp, and Jukebox, etc.
Hope this helps!
"Quest for the Cup - 2002!"
"Onto the 3rd round!"
- Thread starter
- #3
BradSQLGuy
MIS
To check the volume on Winamp or Windows Media and others you will need to open these programs. Usually they can be located under programs menu. Windows Media player is located under Start/Programs/Accessories/Entertainment. Winamp is not something loaded into Windows by default so if you didn't download this you probably will not have it. Also real player or quicktime are not loaded normally either. If any of those programs are downloaded you can usually find them under Start/Programs/. On each of those programs there should be a volume indicator when you open them.
Yup, just open them up, if you have winamp then finding the volume can be tricky sometimes depending on what skin you have loaded on, but I do believe that once you open Winamp, make sure it is focussed (the selected program) and uses the up and down arrow keys to adjust the volume, just push up until the volume goes up. All of these program's volume sliders are horizontal. Don't worry you will fins them, but you will need to check them all.
Winamp, Windows Media, Player, Quiktime Player, Real Player, the old style of windows Media Player (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPLAYER2.EXE), and any others you may have.
Good Luck!
"Quest for the Cup - 2002!"
"Onto the 3rd round!"
Winamp, Windows Media, Player, Quiktime Player, Real Player, the old style of windows Media Player (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPLAYER2.EXE), and any others you may have.
Good Luck!
"Quest for the Cup - 2002!"
"Onto the 3rd round!"
- Thread starter
- #6
*Big Sigh*...I found Windows Media player and Real Player....both have their volumes up. Didn't find WinAmp. Darn, I was hoping you had it solved for me. Any other ideas? I can't figure out for the life of me what would cause the volume control to just slide back down everytime I drag it up.
OK, hold on here.
Do you say that when you are in the volume control you slide the bar up and you get sound and then when you release the mouse it falls down???
Or does it just keep resetting to the bottom every time you open up a program that uses sound???
In either case, do you have the lastest driver installed for your sound card???
¡Buena Suerte!
Do you say that when you are in the volume control you slide the bar up and you get sound and then when you release the mouse it falls down???
Or does it just keep resetting to the bottom every time you open up a program that uses sound???
In either case, do you have the lastest driver installed for your sound card???
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #8
You hit the nail on the head with the first one.....when I am in the volume control I slide the bar up and I get sound and then when I release the mouse it falls down.
BINGO! That's it exactly! Everything was reinstalled with the Quick Restore, taking the C drive back to factory settings over a year ago, and it worked fine. Then one day I turned it on...and the sound was gone. That's when I found the problem with the slider. There are no games on this machine, it is primarily used for my business. I used to play music CD's while I worked, when I could hear them LOL.....but no fancy media things on here. Thanks for your continued help !!
BINGO! That's it exactly! Everything was reinstalled with the Quick Restore, taking the C drive back to factory settings over a year ago, and it worked fine. Then one day I turned it on...and the sound was gone. That's when I found the problem with the slider. There are no games on this machine, it is primarily used for my business. I used to play music CD's while I worked, when I could hear them LOL.....but no fancy media things on here. Thanks for your continued help !!
I think I might have it:
- goto Control Panels, then to ADD/REMOVE Programs
- click on Windows Setup Tab
- scroll down the list and double click the WORD multimedia
- that will open a new windows with another list
- uncheck everything in that window
- hit ok until you are completely out of the add/remove programs dialog box
- if it asks you to re-start say yes, otherwise re-start anyway
- then go through the same procedure again, but this time re-check all of the boxes, hit ok, then re-start
- then see if that has fixed your problem
Let me know!
¡Buena Suerte!
- goto Control Panels, then to ADD/REMOVE Programs
- click on Windows Setup Tab
- scroll down the list and double click the WORD multimedia
- that will open a new windows with another list
- uncheck everything in that window
- hit ok until you are completely out of the add/remove programs dialog box
- if it asks you to re-start say yes, otherwise re-start anyway
- then go through the same procedure again, but this time re-check all of the boxes, hit ok, then re-start
- then see if that has fixed your problem
Let me know!
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #10
What make is your sound card, do you have the drivers on a CD or floppy disk???
If you do have the drivers handy then do the following:
- right-click on my computer
- goto Device Manager tab
- click on the plus sign by Sound, video and game controllers
- click on the sound driver file, there are only 3 files under the sound video and game controllers. (the sound driver should be the first one, then there is one called GamePort Joystick, and the last should be MIDI Device)
- You want to click on the first one or the one that doesn't say Game Port Joystick, or the MIDI Device
- Then once you have the driver highlighted click Remove button, this will remove your sound card.
IF YOU SEE MORE THAN 3 THINGS UNDER THE SOUND/VIDEO/GAME CONTROLLER TITLE STOP
Post back what you have listed under that title and I will let you know which one to remove.
- Then after the card is removed re-start your computer
- Upon startup the computer will automatically detect new hardware or at least it should, that is when you need to get the driver CD or Floppy disk and specify the driver location. You may also, before doing all this, get the newest available driver for your sound card. You will need to consult your documentation to find out what kind of card you have, or before you press remove note the name of the card under Sound/video/game controller in the device manager.
Let me know!
¡Buena Suerte!
If you do have the drivers handy then do the following:
- right-click on my computer
- goto Device Manager tab
- click on the plus sign by Sound, video and game controllers
- click on the sound driver file, there are only 3 files under the sound video and game controllers. (the sound driver should be the first one, then there is one called GamePort Joystick, and the last should be MIDI Device)
- You want to click on the first one or the one that doesn't say Game Port Joystick, or the MIDI Device
- Then once you have the driver highlighted click Remove button, this will remove your sound card.
IF YOU SEE MORE THAN 3 THINGS UNDER THE SOUND/VIDEO/GAME CONTROLLER TITLE STOP
Post back what you have listed under that title and I will let you know which one to remove.
- Then after the card is removed re-start your computer
- Upon startup the computer will automatically detect new hardware or at least it should, that is when you need to get the driver CD or Floppy disk and specify the driver location. You may also, before doing all this, get the newest available driver for your sound card. You will need to consult your documentation to find out what kind of card you have, or before you press remove note the name of the card under Sound/video/game controller in the device manager.
Let me know!
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #12
Aureal A3D 360º Positional Sound
Yamaha XG 128 Voice Waveable Sound
This is what it says on the label on the tower. Don't know if that tells you what you want to know.
Looking in Control Panel, Multimedia, Audio Tab the Playback & Recording options both say "ESSAudiodrive Playback (or Record) (220)
Looking in Multimedia, Devices Tab, Audio Devices says ES1869 Plug and Play Audio Drive
Now, regarding drivers. Don't ever buy a compaq....stupid things. There are no separate drivers on CD's or discs. When you turn your new machine on, all that stuff is in the machine. The only way I have found to reinstall drivers is to take the machine back to factory settings using their 'Quick Restore' CD. It starts all over and reinstalls everything.....thereby losing anything I had on the C drive.....This will be my last Compaq! I only have driver software for peripherals I have added (printer, scanner etc)
Under Multimedia, Device Tabs....I have all these showing
-Audio
-MIDI and Instruments
-Mixer Devices
-Line Input Devices
-Media Control Devices
-Video Compression Codecs
-Audio Compression Codecs
-Video Capture Devices
-Joystick Devices (which shows 2 Gameport Joystick lines even though they are not here. When I try to get rid of them I get a msg saying "To remove this device double click the system icon in Control Panel. Click the device manager Tab and then remove the device labeled ES1869 Control Interface. If you remove this device, you will lose the (squiggly here that I cannont find on the char map) A features it provides." So I've left it alone....but I digress.
So, reinstalling sound card driver is not an option at this point. *bigger and better sigh*
Thanks so much for all you time. It is truly appreciated....any more ideas???
Yamaha XG 128 Voice Waveable Sound
This is what it says on the label on the tower. Don't know if that tells you what you want to know.
Looking in Control Panel, Multimedia, Audio Tab the Playback & Recording options both say "ESSAudiodrive Playback (or Record) (220)
Looking in Multimedia, Devices Tab, Audio Devices says ES1869 Plug and Play Audio Drive
Now, regarding drivers. Don't ever buy a compaq....stupid things. There are no separate drivers on CD's or discs. When you turn your new machine on, all that stuff is in the machine. The only way I have found to reinstall drivers is to take the machine back to factory settings using their 'Quick Restore' CD. It starts all over and reinstalls everything.....thereby losing anything I had on the C drive.....This will be my last Compaq! I only have driver software for peripherals I have added (printer, scanner etc)
Under Multimedia, Device Tabs....I have all these showing
-Audio
-MIDI and Instruments
-Mixer Devices
-Line Input Devices
-Media Control Devices
-Video Compression Codecs
-Audio Compression Codecs
-Video Capture Devices
-Joystick Devices (which shows 2 Gameport Joystick lines even though they are not here. When I try to get rid of them I get a msg saying "To remove this device double click the system icon in Control Panel. Click the device manager Tab and then remove the device labeled ES1869 Control Interface. If you remove this device, you will lose the (squiggly here that I cannont find on the char map) A features it provides." So I've left it alone....but I digress.
So, reinstalling sound card driver is not an option at this point. *bigger and better sigh*
Thanks so much for all you time. It is truly appreciated....any more ideas???
You might be able tore-install the sound card by specifying that the location of the drivers are on your factory reset CD. I don't know if you should do that or not though. Perhaps back up your data, then try that method.
Do you have 2 sound cards???
- Aureal A3D 360º Positional Sound
- Yamaha XG 128 Voice Waveable Sound
I'm running out of ideas here. Maybe look at Aureal and Yamaha sites for drivers and then you can save them to disk and remove and then re-install the sound card.
¡Buena Suerte!
Do you have 2 sound cards???
- Aureal A3D 360º Positional Sound
- Yamaha XG 128 Voice Waveable Sound
I'm running out of ideas here. Maybe look at Aureal and Yamaha sites for drivers and then you can save them to disk and remove and then re-install the sound card.
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #14
Hey Spyderix!! How about this....have you and I let ourselves get sidetracked onto the sound card...erroneously?? All the sounds are working.....I just can't hear them! LOL If I turn the volume up on the external speakers I can hear everything, but softly .....the REAL problem is that stupid volume slide control that won't stay up!!!! What d'ya think...are we off on a sound card tangent that we needn't be???
OK, maybe the sound card is working but that doesn't explain why the slider shoots down after you slide it up. When you went to add/remove programs, what you basically did was un-install the Windows Sound applictaions for processing sound. But then you re-installed them. I was thinking that maybe one of those programs had become corrupt and/or wasn't installed properly. I'm afraid I'm out of suggestions, except for re-installing the sound card, (which may not even fix this problem). I would suggest re-installing windows over top of your current one.
Please explain to me what this factory restore disk is and what exactly is does. I've been hearing more about them, (I know what it does), but I'm interested in how you can use the disk to your advantage without having to completely format your comptuer and lose everything and start from scratch. One of the other members here at Tek-Tips who I am in contact with says that he has one of these factory restore disks and it is limited as compared to what you can do with a proper Windows Install Disk (that only installs windows, nothing else).
So my questions to everyone else reading this are as folows:
- Can a factory restore disk be used to do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows?
- Can a factory restore disk just install Windows and nothing else?
- Can a factory restore disk be used as the source of drivers for re-installing specific hardware drivers?
Until I know these answers, I won't know what to suggest next. I am thinking that if you can do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows then you can just over-write your current OS alltogether, or if the disk can be used as the driver source for re-installing hardware drivers, then I would suggest going back to my last post and completely removing the sound card from the System Device Manager.
Can someone answer these questions for me.
Thanks!
¡Buena Suerte!
Please explain to me what this factory restore disk is and what exactly is does. I've been hearing more about them, (I know what it does), but I'm interested in how you can use the disk to your advantage without having to completely format your comptuer and lose everything and start from scratch. One of the other members here at Tek-Tips who I am in contact with says that he has one of these factory restore disks and it is limited as compared to what you can do with a proper Windows Install Disk (that only installs windows, nothing else).
So my questions to everyone else reading this are as folows:
- Can a factory restore disk be used to do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows?
- Can a factory restore disk just install Windows and nothing else?
- Can a factory restore disk be used as the source of drivers for re-installing specific hardware drivers?
Until I know these answers, I won't know what to suggest next. I am thinking that if you can do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows then you can just over-write your current OS alltogether, or if the disk can be used as the driver source for re-installing hardware drivers, then I would suggest going back to my last post and completely removing the sound card from the System Device Manager.
Can someone answer these questions for me.
Thanks!
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #16
Well, since you asked.....
"So my questions to everyone else reading this are as folows:
- Can a factory restore disk be used to do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows?
- Can a factory restore disk just install Windows and nothing else?
- Can a factory restore disk be used as the source of drivers for
re-installing specific hardware drivers?"
The answer is basically Yes, Yes and Yes. Quick Restore allows you to do 3 kinds of Restores.
1. Full - Returns your computer to its original preinstalled software state and reformats your hard drive.
2. Typical - Restores your hard drive from your last System Save (see below for explanation)
and
3. Custom - Allows you to select the Compaq drivers or applications you want to reinstall without reformatting your hard drive.
System Save - The ability to copy everything on your hard drive and save it to a separate area on your drive for later use. This feature will allow you to restore the drivers, applications and saved date for later use.
My only problem is the first time I had to do this I did the system save, selected Custom as the restore option and had all kinds of problems. Nothing worked right and I had to end up doing a full restore. That's when I went and bought the 2nd HD. So I don't have very good feelings about trying this again. I've lived without the sound for this long, it won't kill me. But I do miss my music and was hoping one of the simple things you offered would work. Thanks anyway and I hope I answered all of your questions aboout the quick restore...if not, holler back! Sue
"So my questions to everyone else reading this are as folows:
- Can a factory restore disk be used to do a Dirty-Re-Install of Windows?
- Can a factory restore disk just install Windows and nothing else?
- Can a factory restore disk be used as the source of drivers for
re-installing specific hardware drivers?"
The answer is basically Yes, Yes and Yes. Quick Restore allows you to do 3 kinds of Restores.
1. Full - Returns your computer to its original preinstalled software state and reformats your hard drive.
2. Typical - Restores your hard drive from your last System Save (see below for explanation)
and
3. Custom - Allows you to select the Compaq drivers or applications you want to reinstall without reformatting your hard drive.
System Save - The ability to copy everything on your hard drive and save it to a separate area on your drive for later use. This feature will allow you to restore the drivers, applications and saved date for later use.
My only problem is the first time I had to do this I did the system save, selected Custom as the restore option and had all kinds of problems. Nothing worked right and I had to end up doing a full restore. That's when I went and bought the 2nd HD. So I don't have very good feelings about trying this again. I've lived without the sound for this long, it won't kill me. But I do miss my music and was hoping one of the simple things you offered would work. Thanks anyway and I hope I answered all of your questions aboout the quick restore...if not, holler back! Sue
I think you should go back to device manager and remove the sound card, then use the restore disk as the location for the drivers and re-install them.
If that doesn't work then I'd would suggest you re-install windows over-top of the old one.
If that doesn't work, then I can't help you. Sorry! We have tried just about everything. And if it goes this far, then I wouldn't konw what else to try.
Let me know if re-installing the drivers worked.
¡Buena Suerte!
If that doesn't work then I'd would suggest you re-install windows over-top of the old one.
If that doesn't work, then I can't help you. Sorry! We have tried just about everything. And if it goes this far, then I wouldn't konw what else to try.
Let me know if re-installing the drivers worked.
¡Buena Suerte!
- Thread starter
- #18
WEll, thanks for all your help. With the track record this machine has, I'm not willing to to try that at this time....I should have taken it back when I bought it, but I didn't. But, thanks for all your help. Hope the info about Quick Restore discs will be helpful to you. Thanks again
Sue
Sue
Fact number 1 : People should not have a PC that cannot play MP3 files or else they need a new PC. :_ I love my music! If I were you, I couldn't just slough this off...
Try updating your drivers through the Device manager after downloading a more recent driver from a site like driverguide.com or windrivers.com. You're going to have to register with the site, but that's a pittance if you really want to hear those mp3's again!
On the other hand, you could think about getting a cheap soundcard (I bought a really nice SounblasterLive! value sound card for under 30 dollars and it gives you a lof of options for really cheap). Make sure you know what you have inside first - opening up your computer is one of those unfounded fears like riding a bike. You can expect pretty good support with a Creative SounblasterLive! card, too. The main problem with this option is that your pc's current soundcard is most likely onboard since you bought it in a package like that. Often you can disable onboard sound through your BIOS, but if not there are some motherboards that allow you to do it directly on the board. That would be bad since you bought it from Compaq and I'm willing to bet they gave you absolutely no kind of documentation on it. I know that they have used Asus in the past, but that doesn't mean much since manufacturers have to hop around to stay in tight competition nowadays.
Try updating your drivers through the Device manager after downloading a more recent driver from a site like driverguide.com or windrivers.com. You're going to have to register with the site, but that's a pittance if you really want to hear those mp3's again!
On the other hand, you could think about getting a cheap soundcard (I bought a really nice SounblasterLive! value sound card for under 30 dollars and it gives you a lof of options for really cheap). Make sure you know what you have inside first - opening up your computer is one of those unfounded fears like riding a bike. You can expect pretty good support with a Creative SounblasterLive! card, too. The main problem with this option is that your pc's current soundcard is most likely onboard since you bought it in a package like that. Often you can disable onboard sound through your BIOS, but if not there are some motherboards that allow you to do it directly on the board. That would be bad since you bought it from Compaq and I'm willing to bet they gave you absolutely no kind of documentation on it. I know that they have used Asus in the past, but that doesn't mean much since manufacturers have to hop around to stay in tight competition nowadays.
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