Can't get audio to work when installing XP on dell 1735 laptop

Update:
I went to the Dell driver download; your 1735 is a Studio laptop and Dell offers Vista drivers only.
So please ignore points #2 and #3 above.

As to your problem with receiving an error message that another instance of the installation is already running, I had that once on a laptop when installing printer drivers. Finally found the solution in my knowledge base.

Here's what you could try to do:
Start > Run > type: regedit [Enter]
browse to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Setup", right-click the Key (Setup) in the left tree view and select 'Export'. Save it under any name you like, as this is only a backup.
Next check for the following REG_DWORD entries:

-AuditInProgress
-FactoryPreinstallInProgress
-SetupType
-SystemSetupInProgress

Nevermind about those that don't exist. For those which exist, make sure they are set to '0'.

In my case, after changing those settings, not only would the installation proceed flawlessly, an intermittent problem with not recognizing USB devices was gone as well.

Hope this helps.

Hi Torimar,

Thanks for the replies.

I have the core2duo model.

I booted up the laptop to check the registry like you mentioned.
As soon as it boot the IDT PC audio tried to install again....with the same results except one additional popup when I went to close it...

'exiterror:error=this system does not support the driver you are attempting to install'

2 of the D-Word entries you mentioned were there but they were both already set to 0.

Any other thoughts?
Do you know if XP64 drivers exist. I have a 64 bit version I could try as well....
I will try to get this post zoned more appropriately as well.

Thanks.
-Andy

I'd start again, clean install xp or run a repair re-install. This time have the mainboard drivers ready.
To remove Vista use the Vista setup disc to delete the partition.
Eitherway you have 2 devices using the same resources hense the "unknown" or "other device" , remove both in safemode and reboot.
Or
Open device manager then open VIEW click to show hidden devices then take a look at any problem devices. Remove them both.

Merete,

I have actually tried a fresh reinstall a second time but I can give it another go. Vista has been gone and I deleted the extra partitions the first time. I did make a new 15gb partition for XP's clean install.

"Eitherway you have 2 devices using the same resources hense the "unknown" or "other device" , remove both in safemode and reboot.
Or
Open device manager then open VIEW click to show hidden devices then take a look at any problem devices. Remove them both."

Got a little tied up today. I will do a complete re-install and try the above tomorrow.

Thanks.

Device Manager will show some devices that aren't intended to show when you use the View menu and set it to "show hidden devices".

However, to really get it to show old phantom left-overs, such as previously installed devices that exist as settings in the registry and may have incomplete drivers, but are no longer connected to the computer, there is a command you can issue.

Copy the text in the Code Snippet, paste into Notepad, and do a File > Save As and browse to somewhere handy like the desktop.  Name the file by a logical name such as "Show_Hidden_Devices_XP.cmd", and be sure to include the surrounding " " and the .cmd after the name of the file, otherwise it may just save as a *.txt file rather than a "DOS" batch file.

Double-click on it and follow the very brief instructions.  It will open device manager in such a way that, when you now ues the View > show hidden devices option, it will show a LOT more devices.

Be very careful.  I am only suggesting that you look for yellow ? listings in sections such as "Other Devices" and "Sound Video and Game Controllers".  The yellow ? is a complete giveaway of an unconfigured evice that doesn't belong, but you will see other devices that are almost transparent light grey.

These may be eg. USB devices that are not connected, such as external usb speakers or similar, but may also show something you recognise to be a leftover audio device from your failed driver installations.

My advice would be to delete those devices that you are pretty certain relate directly to the problem.  Sometimes it is best to install driver packages at this stage before rebooting, so that on reboot when it identifies new hardware it can find the drivers.

Now, all that said, are you sure that the audio actually does need a indows XP Driver?

We have all been puzzled over problems that turned out to be embarrassingly simple oversights, and we were looking too deeply expecting it to be a more significant issue, so I'm not trying to call you dumb or anything.

I would urge you, however, to do a fresh install and then not to install anything other than Chipset and Graphics drivers, or any important system drivers if Windows needs to.  This way you can double check all audio-related settings just in case you missed something.

For example, is your Volume Control showing in the System Tray (notification area)?  I so, open it, and if not just type:
sndvol32
or
%SystemRoot%\System32\sndvol32.exe
into the Start Menu's Run field.
Check for any muted sliders for a start, and turn them all up.

Is there a rotary control on the side of the lid, or somewhere on the base of the laptop's case to give fast access to volume?  Perhaps there are some hotkeys (eg. next to the F? keys) that control volume.

Don't just test audio in Media Player, try playing some of the *.wav files in your C:\Windows\Media folder in Sound Recorder.
Start > Run > and type SndRec32
File Open.

Better still, run the DirectX Diagnostics utility and see what happens under the audio-related tabs:
Start > Run > and type DXDIAG

Usually a clear indicator that a sound card or chip does ot have suitable drivers installed is if you go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices.
If, when you click on one of the Sound Events, the little preview play arrow is greyed out, then usually it's because Windows doesn't know how to ender the sound.

Under the Audio tab of the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog, click the drop-down arrow and see if there are any other devices showing.  You never know, it may be trying to use a "phantom" device as the default when your working audio card/chip is right there in the drop down list ready to be set as default.

I know, you've tried all of these settings already ... several times.  That's what I have told myself on more than one occasion until I'm pretty cheesed off and then suddenly spot a box ticked or not ticked, and kick myself.

Bill

Whoops, the batch file in the Code Snippet.  Actually, I'll just upload it as a *.TXT file.  Save it and rename, changing the *.TXT extension to *.CMD and accept the warning about changing file types.
Show-Hidden-Devices-XP.txt

Install and run the 32-bit Dell Diagnostics in Graphical user interface mode within Windows:

Download Page: http://tinyurl.com/deat2q
Direct Download Link: http://ftp.us.dell.com/diags/CW1337A0.exe

See what it tells you.  Who knows, perhaps they do have a Windows XP compatible audio driver that can be downloaded from within the diagnostics program or from a link in the results, even though it may not be shown on the Dell download page because your system came with Vista preinstalled.

There seems to be some dubiety about your computer's Family and Model number.  From what I see, the 1735 exists as a "Studio", but torimar found information to suggest that it is an Inspiron.  In all likelihood it is just a reworked Inspiron, but may have the odd difference on the motherboard.  Your best bet is to enter the Service Tag on the opening support page.  It will lead you right to the correct model and show you downloads specific to it.  You will find the "Service Tag" number on one of the stickers on the base, and it should clearly state which number is which.

If it does turn out that Dell only have Vista drivers, then download, install, and run Belarc Advisor:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It will take a while to eventually load the results in Internet Explorer, but you may there find the actual name of the Audio Chip used.  It is highly possible that the same chip is used in many other brands of laptops, and you may be able to find an XP compatible one at eg. Compaq/HP, Gateway, etc.

From what I see in the technical specs for the "Studio" 1735, the audio chip is referred to as Audio type 5.1 channel Intel High Definition Audio controller IDT 92HD73C, but we all know that there can be different motherboard revisions used within the same family of computers that have significant chipset differences from the other.

A quick search in google reveals that there are lots of people around the globe asking others for a Windows XP audio driver for the Dell Studio 1735, which makes me think yo will be out of luck, especially in view of the fact that I have yet to find one with a useful link to follow apart from the Dutch website you found with the download links on rapidshare.com.

Downloading and looking at those drivers now.

Thanks WhackAMod

Suspended!  Uh, Oh, it was that line in the question "punched things and @8#!$ screamed", wasn't it?  ;-)