lennymfg
asked on
i not got add/remove hardware@contrl panl i want2 install sound card
I boughta sound card but havn'nt got the add/remove button in my control panel
so it wont detect my card i tried to copy add/remove hardware 4rm a different pc
but no joy.all i want 2 do is load the sound card so the pc will use it.
i'm runnng Win 98 any help would be greatly apprieciated
thanks
so it wont detect my card i tried to copy add/remove hardware 4rm a different pc
but no joy.all i want 2 do is load the sound card so the pc will use it.
i'm runnng Win 98 any help would be greatly apprieciated
thanks
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SOLUTION
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Win 98 is PnP strange
yeah, any new sound card should be detected by windows on startup, then prompt for the installation CD, which should come with the sound card. If not, you can probably find the drivers on the net. Which sound card is it excactly?
ASKER
its a creative soundblaster 4.1
the cd loads the software but when its finished it says
cannot find any soundblaster hardware.
its really annoying cause iv'e got some music software
and can't bloody use it
the cd loads the software but when its finished it says
cannot find any soundblaster hardware.
its really annoying cause iv'e got some music software
and can't bloody use it
the software might be separate from the actual drivers. make sure you install the drivers as well as all the fancy volume controls and stuff. you might want to browse the CD contents to look for the driver installation. you can check if the proper driver is installed by going to system properties->device manager. if there are yellow exclamation marks anywhere, it means windows has detected the hardware but can't find the drivers, in which case you need to install them from the CD. if the drivers are installed properly, they should show up under Sound, video and game controllers.
ASKER
Iv'e copied hdwwiz.cpl off a different pc and it seems ok
but i cant test it on my pc until later it used 2 b a company pc so it might not let me install anything
im in work now and i cant access add /remove hardware luckally we got loads of pc's in work.
Glad of the help you guys are giving its a big help
to me:-)
but i cant test it on my pc until later it used 2 b a company pc so it might not let me install anything
im in work now and i cant access add /remove hardware luckally we got loads of pc's in work.
Glad of the help you guys are giving its a big help
to me:-)
This is more a question of why his system doesn't see the sound card over why his add/remove hardware control panel icon is missing.
There's more information needed in order to ask the bigger question about why the sound card isn't detected.
A couple things first. Windows 98 will detect that a new hardware device has been installed even if it can't find the correct drivers for it. In the event it can't find the drivers, normally, windows 98 will prompt for a disk with the correct drivers.
When windows doesn't detect the hardware and prompt you this is an indication that
1) the slot in which the card has been inserted is defective.
and/or
2) The sound card is defective.
and/or
3) There are no free resources to give to the card by the system on post.
and/or
4) The card is not compatible with the mobo. This would be extremely rare.
A few questions need to be asked. First, how many cards are in the computer? Is this an ISA or PCI card? Does the startup screen presented at post indicate an IRQ has been assigned to it? If so, what is the IRQ? What is the manufacturer of the card. Does it work in another slot? Does it work in another computer? Does another sound card work in that slot? What model is your motherboard?
There's more information needed in order to ask the bigger question about why the sound card isn't detected.
A couple things first. Windows 98 will detect that a new hardware device has been installed even if it can't find the correct drivers for it. In the event it can't find the drivers, normally, windows 98 will prompt for a disk with the correct drivers.
When windows doesn't detect the hardware and prompt you this is an indication that
1) the slot in which the card has been inserted is defective.
and/or
2) The sound card is defective.
and/or
3) There are no free resources to give to the card by the system on post.
and/or
4) The card is not compatible with the mobo. This would be extremely rare.
A few questions need to be asked. First, how many cards are in the computer? Is this an ISA or PCI card? Does the startup screen presented at post indicate an IRQ has been assigned to it? If so, what is the IRQ? What is the manufacturer of the card. Does it work in another slot? Does it work in another computer? Does another sound card work in that slot? What model is your motherboard?
A couple other things.
Did you get prompted at one point for drivers, say when you first installed it? If so, did you just pass by in order to get in? If so, did you check your system properties (device manager) for hardware and did you observe a large question mark in "other devices" for an audio controller (or something like that)?
Finally, everyone should understand that you can't resolve potential software issues until the hardware issues are resolved. Work through the process of identifying hardware problems then move to resolve sofware items, not the other way around.
Did you get prompted at one point for drivers, say when you first installed it? If so, did you just pass by in order to get in? If so, did you check your system properties (device manager) for hardware and did you observe a large question mark in "other devices" for an audio controller (or something like that)?
Finally, everyone should understand that you can't resolve potential software issues until the hardware issues are resolved. Work through the process of identifying hardware problems then move to resolve sofware items, not the other way around.
If the computer that your having problems with used to be a company pc, and won't let you install anything, it's probably either nt, or there's some user managment software running. That's why you don't have an add/remove hardware icon. You need to be administrator on the machine to get to the add/remove hardware settings. If you can't do this, sorry, you'll need to reinstall the OS, or remove the managment software to get anything to work the way you want it.
If it's nt, that would also explain why it won't auto-detect. NT doesn't have good (any?) plug and play support, so your card will have to be installed the old fashioned way unless you reinstall with something like 98.
If it's nt, that would also explain why it won't auto-detect. NT doesn't have good (any?) plug and play support, so your card will have to be installed the old fashioned way unless you reinstall with something like 98.
ASKER
1.there is 1 other card in the pc think its the modem
its got what appears 2b a phone plug.
2.ive tried it 3 slots and it just says can't detect
any soundblaster hardware.
3. its a pci card, sorry i dont know what an irq is.
4.didn't see a prompt 4 drivers.
5. i'm currently running 98
its got what appears 2b a phone plug.
2.ive tried it 3 slots and it just says can't detect
any soundblaster hardware.
3. its a pci card, sorry i dont know what an irq is.
4.didn't see a prompt 4 drivers.
5. i'm currently running 98
Right click on "My Computer" and choose "properties" from the bottom of the menu.
On this dialog box is an option for device manager. It lists all your installed devices. Sometimes it shows problemmatic entries and those that are problemmatic will cause the branch of the tree to be expanded and next to one or more entries will be an exclamation mark or a red indicator showing the device isn't working. Other times devices that were detected at one point but no one provided windows drivers for it will show them under a branch called "other devices" or something very similar.
Are any of these present?
Do you have your Win98 CD? If so, you should try to reinstall windows over the top of your current install. Don't worry, shy anything extremely drastic going wrong, Windows will retain your prior settings.
Another thing...
When your computer starts up you normally see a screen where it lists your harddrives etc. If you wait just a little longer you'll normally see a screen that displays some information such as your usb devices, network card devices, modem devices. It is a temporary screen meaning it doesn't last long so you may have to hit scroll lock to get it to hold so you can read it. You may have to reboot repeatedly just to ensure that you can hit scroll lock in time.
When this list is presented and if you can get it to stop long enough to write some of it down, look for where it indicates your simple comm controller and various other things...look for words like "audio", "sound", etc. To the right of those words it may state the IRQ (a number). Not the number to the left, but the number to the right of it. If you don't see it there then your bios hasn't seen it.
How old is your computer? Do you know the make/model/manufacturer?
Can you try the sound card in another machine?
On this dialog box is an option for device manager. It lists all your installed devices. Sometimes it shows problemmatic entries and those that are problemmatic will cause the branch of the tree to be expanded and next to one or more entries will be an exclamation mark or a red indicator showing the device isn't working. Other times devices that were detected at one point but no one provided windows drivers for it will show them under a branch called "other devices" or something very similar.
Are any of these present?
Do you have your Win98 CD? If so, you should try to reinstall windows over the top of your current install. Don't worry, shy anything extremely drastic going wrong, Windows will retain your prior settings.
Another thing...
When your computer starts up you normally see a screen where it lists your harddrives etc. If you wait just a little longer you'll normally see a screen that displays some information such as your usb devices, network card devices, modem devices. It is a temporary screen meaning it doesn't last long so you may have to hit scroll lock to get it to hold so you can read it. You may have to reboot repeatedly just to ensure that you can hit scroll lock in time.
When this list is presented and if you can get it to stop long enough to write some of it down, look for where it indicates your simple comm controller and various other things...look for words like "audio", "sound", etc. To the right of those words it may state the IRQ (a number). Not the number to the left, but the number to the right of it. If you don't see it there then your bios hasn't seen it.
How old is your computer? Do you know the make/model/manufacturer?
Can you try the sound card in another machine?
1) Put the card in a different slot
2) Check BIOS (F1 or DEL or other at power on) for a "Plug n Play OS" setting, set it to NO
3) Download latest drivers from www.creative.com (assuming this really is a SoundBlaster, I've never heard of a SoundBlaster 4.1, there is no such card on their page).
4) Add/Remove Hardware probably hidden by TweakUI, you should still be able to run the .cpl file directly (but shouldn't need to).
-dog*
2) Check BIOS (F1 or DEL or other at power on) for a "Plug n Play OS" setting, set it to NO
3) Download latest drivers from www.creative.com (assuming this really is a SoundBlaster, I've never heard of a SoundBlaster 4.1, there is no such card on their page).
4) Add/Remove Hardware probably hidden by TweakUI, you should still be able to run the .cpl file directly (but shouldn't need to).
-dog*
He already tried it in 3 slots. He has drivers that state it doesn't detect the card at the end of the install. He also states he isn't prompted for the card drivers when it starts up.
If he'll at least try to collect and report the information I requested we could get a much better idea of what is wrong and why. We still have not determined whether he actually has those improper entries in his device manager.
The best thing he can do, at least initially, is to put the card into another computer and test it.
If he'll at least try to collect and report the information I requested we could get a much better idea of what is wrong and why. We still have not determined whether he actually has those improper entries in his device manager.
The best thing he can do, at least initially, is to put the card into another computer and test it.
ASKER
HI guys,
its a compaq deskpro intel inside no numbers(so its oldish)
it didn't have the file hdwwiz.cpl on it but the rest of cpl's were there
i don't have the 98 disc
the screen dosn't list my hard drive just says 16,898kb
ill check my computer properties when i go home
its a compaq deskpro intel inside no numbers(so its oldish)
it didn't have the file hdwwiz.cpl on it but the rest of cpl's were there
i don't have the 98 disc
the screen dosn't list my hard drive just says 16,898kb
ill check my computer properties when i go home
At this point, I'd say that the card is probably bad. Like Jimbo99 said, have you tried to install it in another computer? Are you sure you're inserting it fully into the slot? None (or very very little at least) of the gold connector on the card should be visible when the card is properly inserted. Another possibility is that your Compaq doesn't have the right type of PCI slots (i.e. card may require PCI 2.2 compliance, your board is only 2.0). Please see if you can't find any more distinguishing numbers on the system, either a model number (Deskpro EN, Deskpro 2000, heck even the type of processor, Pentium, Pentium II, etc would help) or the serial number (probably on a sticker on the back or side of the case)
-dog*
-dog*
ASKER
I tried accessin the my computer properties but it wouldn't let me. if i got a new mobo +chip +hdd could i just plug all the stuff from the crap pc into it i'm desperate to get a pc up and runnin not got loads of dough though .I just wanna make music on it nuttin else just yet.
If you can't even right-click My Computer and choose properties, you have something much worse wrong with your system that just a sound card. Where did your system come from? It sounds like it was setup in a business that had locked down alot of settings, etc. Have you tried reinstalling Windows over the top? Can you open the System control panel (this is the same as My Computer properties).
Have you run a virusscan on this system? Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com to run a free one online.
-dog*
Have you run a virusscan on this system? Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com to run a free one online.
-dog*
ASKER
not got the win 98 disc yeah can open system&system32
i'm thinkin of just buying a new pc dis 1 is reckin me head only got it 4 days ago
i'm thinkin of just buying a new pc dis 1 is reckin me head only got it 4 days ago
Wow, you must love throwing away money...if you just bought it, why don't you return it and tell them its defective?!?
>>yeah can open system&system32
No, not the Windows folders system and system32...I mean click Start-Settings-Control Panel then try opening System. Where did this PC come from? I think whoever installed it has screwed it up royally.
-dog*
>>yeah can open system&system32
No, not the Windows folders system and system32...I mean click Start-Settings-Control Panel then try opening System. Where did this PC come from? I think whoever installed it has screwed it up royally.
-dog*
Thanks for resolving this old question!