XP Home - sound now distorted?

[LGJ]

Please, can anyone help. My sound on my XP home is distorted playing any audio files - eg mp3 and also mpg, avi etc (everything!)

This was all working fine since I got the computer (Aug) but its now distorted. If I put the speakers through the TV output its fine so it must be XP.

It seemed to happen after installing some ogg/ogm codecs. Not sure if its related? I have read you need Microsoft IMA ADPCM Codec and Microsoft ADPCM Codecs but these are not shown in my device manager.

I have read to flash the bios has helped some people in sound issues but I have no idea what or how to do this?

How do I find out what on board sound card I have to get the correct drivers etc?

Please can anyone lead me in the right direction, this is really bugging me now after hours searching for a solution?

Thanks all

 

[bcastner]

Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
Under Pick a Help Topic, click Fixing a problem.
In the left pane, click Games, sound, and video problems.
In the right pane, click Sound Troubleshooter.

Using the Sound Troubleshooter:
Click the option that describes the problem that is occurring, and then click Next.
Repeat until your problem is resolved or you have reached the end of the troubleshooting path. Note that you can click Back at any time to repeat the last step, or click Start Over to start the Sound Troubleshooter again.

 

[LGJ]

I tried this last night I'm sure with no luck. I will try again tonight (at work at the moment).

Any other ideas?

Thanks

 

[bcastner]

When you get home, run the "Driver Detective":

http://www.drivershq.com/

Make a list of drivers that need updating. The Windows Update Catologue site is a good source of certified drivers for devices. The manufacturer's web site is generally easy to find.

To help find a driver web site, you could run the Belarc Advisor:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Often a newer driver set repairs this problem.

 

[LGJ]

thanks for the ideas dcastner. I managed to fix it by using a system restore point that XP automatically created.