Question

Sound card driver for unknown sound card - how to determine what to instal?

Asked by: afflik1923

A client has performed a re-installation of Vista however he now has know sound. I will remotely assist him to get this working only he has no record of what sound card is installed and the PC was a custom built one.

Baring n mind I will assist remotely what is the most efficent method to accurately determine what sound card he has installed and then locate the correct driver for it.

Thanks

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-10-20 at 06:47:50ID24826843
Topics

Computer Sound Cards

,

Windows Vista

,

Miscellaneous Hardware

Participating Experts
5
Points
500
Comments
11

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. HP4100C Unknown Device
    I have had this problem before on different computers with the HP4100C model scanner and have never been able to solve the problem, even with the help/suggestions of HP. Now I have the problem again and would like to know if (finally) there is a solution: The problem: A compu...
  2. XP barely responding Post User running registry defrag and…
    The current state of my PC is as follow: 1. Barely responding. 2. Immediately from startup the pc becomes incredibly slow 3. For the most part I cant open anything 4. System goes through mini freezes every 10 seconds where the mouse disappears from the screen. The following...
  3. Identical NICs, One Unknown to System
    Greetings, I recently installed a second NIC in my file server (Gentoo Linux 2.6.15-r1). The first network card works fine and comes up in lspci accurately. (Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc (Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 11)) The second identical card (DGE-530T) com...
  4. Vista Ultimate - unknown devices
    I have recently installed Vista Ultimate in dual boot with XP. All is going smoothly but there is one annoyance! - I'm told something hasn't installed, yet I don't knoiw what it is!!! Device Manager shows a couple of "unknown devices". I have followed through with a...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: KCTSPosted on 2009-10-20 at 06:51:54ID: 25614089

Try and determine the FCC number and then look it up - see http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000503.htm

 

by: xxdcmastPosted on 2009-10-20 at 07:09:43ID: 25614280

You could try downloading and running Aida32. It is a more robust hardware inventory program.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/AIDA.shtml

You may be able to look through the confiuration of the unknown sound device and find something that will help you diagnose what the make/model is.

 

by: afflik1923Posted on 2009-10-20 at 07:10:15ID: 25614289

OK this link does not mention Windows Vista. Also I was really hoping that there was some software application that could run and determne this (I'#m not lazy jut exhasuted)
Any more tips welcome.

 

by: KCTSPosted on 2009-10-20 at 07:16:04ID: 25614353

The process is the same wether its XP or Vista - if you can get the FCC identifiler then you can look it up

 

by: afflik1923Posted on 2009-10-20 at 07:29:41ID: 25614525

OK I did do that and under the sound card section it is blank and there is nothing there?

 

by: KCTSPosted on 2009-10-20 at 07:36:01ID: 25614587

Not sure if it will work in Vista but try Belarc advisor
http://www.crucial.com/support/belarc_download.asp

 

by: QuinnDesterPosted on 2009-10-20 at 07:38:18ID: 25614614

To get the FCC number you need to phisicaly open the box, the FCC number will be printed on the sound card itself.

 

by: afflik1923Posted on 2009-10-20 at 09:44:00ID: 25615948

OK thanks for input guys. Due to lue screening and other issues they have decided to buy a new PC. Makes sense trust me!

Thanksfor input. Points awarded soon.

 

by: JohnnyCanuckPosted on 2009-10-20 at 15:41:49ID: 25619382

Just for the record, there is a free download of SIW - System Information for Windows, here.  

http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

If can probably identify the sound card.

 

by: ddyer1970Posted on 2009-10-21 at 04:58:04ID: 25622962

Will dxdiag capture hardware if the driver isn't there?  You can try it.
Start menu.
Type dxdiag in the field and hit Enter
Should get video and sound info.

*might* work without drivers, but probably not.

 

by: afflik1923Posted on 2009-10-21 at 06:39:00ID: 31643366

No definitve answer (apart from opening the box) but as said user decided to get new PC anyway.
Therefore never needed to do it. Points have been split

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...