How do I turn up the volume on my computer?

Stewart.......Wrote all that down, got as far as Control Panel - no Performance & Maintenance there :(

You must have it in classic view then.
There should be a 'System' icon to click on.

I found it rummaging about in "My Computer" went through it all and there was a button to click for an upgrade. I tried that but have the latest version already. It also said that the device was working correctly. Hmmm?

If u download drivers only then u need 2 follow this procedure. To find the sound card u need 2 go to the device manager. Just Right click My Computer and choose properties and in that select Hardware Tab and then click the Device Manager Button and u would get the list of devices installed on ur system. Look for Sounds, Video and Game Controllers and choose ur sound card device and right click that and choose update. Simply target ur downloaded file in the path asked and let the installation finish.

Remember u need 2 choose the above procedure only if maximising the master volume or wave volume also doesnt help bringing the sound back to normal level.

I can even suggest u check with a different headset or differnt speakers to make sure thats not the problem.

skschandra........have tried to upgrade but am already at top of tree for the driver, have the latest installed already. Problem doesn't lie with the speakers or headset unfortunately. According to the diagnostics, my sound card is in working order..............???? Duh!!

Try to remove the plug put into the sound card socket and put it back in it again. Try doing it 2 twice and mabbe there is some loose contact there ... ? U never know... If u r using a splitter to distribute sound to headset and speakers try to remove it and test it.

Checked all plugs first of all, no splitter in use.

Alright i can give u a final solution and it should work absolutely fine and there would be no failures and if at all there are any it has 2 be attributed to the hardware side of ur sound card.
Solution is to first uninstall the current sound card from the device manager by simply saying uninstall on the sound device and then shut down ur computer. Now open the cabinet and then remove the sound card from the current PCI slot and shift it to another PCI slot and fix it firmly and then restart ur cpu. Drivers are supposed 2 be automatically installed since its winXP and then check for the sound this time and it should be fine and as i said earlier if it doesnt work even then it has 2 do something with ur sound card itself (hardware issue), now its time for replacement of ur sound card.

I'll have a go at that in the morning as it's dark now over here (England) and I'm about to nosebag. I'll get back to you on that one. Thanks.
Del.

skschandra........ Would that be a similar "final solution" to the one Germany had in WW11? I did as you said, uninstalled the sound device, turned it off and took the box off .......... no cards in there. There are lots of little black square things and some fans and stuff, but nothing that looks like a card. Now I have no sound at all. Tried downloading the driver thing again but it still doesn't work. Where do I go from here?

Well what i understand is u have a inbuilt sound card in your mother board .. basically these internal sound cards are having hell a lot of compatability issues right from the beginning. So i suggest you go to BIOS, disable Audio (internal) and buy ur self a good PCI Sound Card like creative 24 bit live blaster. Its very cheap and reliable as well. U would get almost 3 sound outputs for ur 2.1 or a 4.1 surround sound speaker systems u have if any. Bcoz many games also generally give problem with internal sound cards. Iam afraid i dont have anyother cheaper solution :)

I'll try that, will get back to you later when I've got the bits. Thanks.

skschandra......... What part of "I am NOT computer literate" didn't you understand? Not having a 'BIOS' around here, I went to PC World instead - where I discovered that 'BIOS' was not in fact an American computer store but a function of my machine. I found this out by asking an assistant for an internal audio disabler as I couldn't find one on the shelves. Laugh, the tears were running down his leg. Needless to say, I didn't bother sticking around to find a sound card - just got the f**k out of the place. Thank you SO little for making me look a complete prick!

Extremely Sorry delthebuilder. I really dint know that u wouldnt pick up what is a BIOS as well. It was my mistake. i totally agree. I could understand what would have really happend. Now when i read thro' my sentences i understand i could have put it in a better way. Its not very late either, plz forgive me. Just ask the computer store person to u give u

Extremely Sorry delthebuilder. I really dint know that u wouldnt pick up what is a BIOS as well. It was my mistake. i totally agree. I could understand what would have really happend. Now when i read thro' my sentences i understand i could have put it in a better way. Its not very late either, plz forgive me. Just ask the computer store person to u give u CREATIVE 24BIT LIVE BLASTER PCI sound card and he would give u. Its better u take it to him and he would definetely fix it for u. Its just a 15 min job and mabbe would ask u an extra pie or so. Dont forget to mention that before he installs the new Creative sound card he has to disable the existing internal sound in ur computer in the BIOS. Hope everything would go fine :) Once again sorry for the trouble i have caused.

Remember u have to take ur computer i.e just the CPU and not the monitor to him :)

I phoned PC World about this and they told me to fetch it in, problem is that they say it will be two weeks before I can get it back. PC World are a lot of things - but quick isn't one of them. I'll have a ring round tomorrow and see if I can get it done quicker. Looking back on today, you gotta laugh about it really - I just felt such a prat at the time :) I bet that guy is in a bar at the moment, relating it all to his buddies!! Will get back to you when I know more (although I know more today than I did yesterday!!).

Checked out the prices today and got a bit of a shock - the best offer I could get was $130 to supply and fit one. Do you know a cheaper way before I take the plunge?

I guess that after all this time I'm not going to get any further with this question so I'll just close it and take my 'pooter to get it mended, if 3.5 million 'experts' can't help me........................ :(

Who said we cant help u ... i donno iam missing these emails badly :) dont worry ... Well that price is way tooo costly ... the product i suggested u was  Creative Sound Blaster Live and it shouldnt be more than 24$. Ask me why ur quoted price is so much, heres the reason. Creative deals with many sound card which are generally having very similar names and just a single word differs. inistially when u are new to this hardware this can really happen 2 any1. So now what u r supposed 2 do is ask the vendor just to give u this particular card and nothing else Creative Sound Blaster Live 24 Bit 7.1 (internal) and this exactly should be written on the card and nothing else should be there :) I can give u the link so that u can have a view of the product u should buy and there should be no confusion :)
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10315 Here u can easily find every detail. For a pictorial view of the Box go to this link http://images.creative.com/iss/images/corporate/artwork/art_live_24-bit_box.jpg and ur product should look exactly like this :)
Also talking abt the price if u go to this page it tells u the exact price creative in US is ready to ship it for ?
U can find the price here -- > http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10315
So here he says its 24$ and mabbe why some1 could have quoted u 130$ is that mabbe that card would have been sound blaster audigy for gamer which is at 130$ or something similar. Anyways by now u can understand everything :) Anymore doubts get back 2 me :) and dont say none is here. :)

Hi there sks. The average price for one over here is around £25-00 + £50-00 to fit it. Even if I bought one cheaper from the States, I would still have to pay import tax and vat on it levied by our Customs & Excise! As to having it fitted, labour charges for computer work here average around £40 to £50 per hour and EVERYTHING takes at least an hour to do - even a 5 minute job!