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Computer savvy folks, I need your help

A while I go I formatted my computer at work because of some new hardware I had to install and, because I thought I had all the software I needed with me, I didn't back up any of the drivers. I had all important documents with me, and had formatted my home computer so many times before, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, it seems everything is working just fine, except for the sound card... and I don't even know what sound card is inside this computer That was really silly of me, I know, but before opening the computer case and taking a peek inside it, there are two things I'd like to ask:

• Do I really need to open my computer in order to find out what sound card is in there, or can I find this information somewhere on that device management thingy? (I'm using Windows XP, by the way)
  
  
• Will I really find this info written somewhere on the sound card?
  

Are you using onboard sound or a discrete sound card?

I can recommend finding a copy of Everest Home Edition. It will tell you many of the specifics regarding your motherboard's chipset, etc. This might save you some time.

depends on the type of sound. you should have a motherboard disk with drivers included if it's onboard. um to find out do this

right click my computer icon

select manage

Device Management

it'll list everything & if theres no drivers for the soundcard it'll probably have a question mark on it, that means it'll need some. u can then right click on it & maybe search for drivers or google the name of the device & find them on the company website

You formatted your hard drive to install some new hardware?



download aida here http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html

itll tell you exactly what hardware is inside the box. google the name of the sound component and dl whatever drivers you need.

Also, if it's a PC made from a major manufacturer, you can often look up your stock configuration on the website.

(For example, support.dell.com allows you to look up your system by its "service tag" and then will show you all the hardware that shipped in your machine.)

It doesn't tell me much about the sound card, Ian:

quote:

Originally posted by CleverName You formatted your hard drive to install some new hardware?

Yeah, for some reason, the copy machine was not willing to communicate with my computer because of some conflict. Not even the guy from the support service knew what was going on so we all decided it would be a nice idea to just format the damn thing

I'll check the software you guys recommended

quote:

Originally posted by david.michael Also, if it's a PC made from a major manufacturer, you can often look up your stock configuration on the website. (For example, support.dell.com allows you to look up your system by its "service tag" and then will show you all the hardware that shipped in your machine.)

It isn't

well under control panel you can check if it is on the mobo or PCI, but if its the latter, that wont help much...i suggest pulling the card and looking for brand names, numbers that you can google with 'driver' some where in the search.

for motherboard and cpu related info i like CPU-Z, it gives you info to search for if you have onboard sound.

ps...

you could also just use the default windows sound drivers until you find something better|

quote:

Originally posted by Lira It isn't

let windows search for the best default driver, it should work...


if not, pull the card and look for something that might tell you what to search for|

(its PCI)

quote:

Originally posted by Lira It doesn't tell me much about the sound card, Ian:

the question marks are there though which signals there's no driver installed I'm sure if you google the question marks you might find something

You could try using Windows update...under the "advanced" tab, then "hardware", it will likely find a driver to use.

The safest and most reliable method of course is to google the exact model number. Just turn the computer off, take it out and read the back of the card. It should take about 30 seconds to find the brand and model. Google that and get the proper driver from the manufacturer.

Off topic:
You're THAT well versed in Japanese? Awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian the question marks are there though which signals there's no driver installed I'm sure if you google the question marks you might find something

hmm... it's too general, though:

- Other devices
-- PCI Modem
-- Multimedia Audio Controller

When I searched for http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=Multimedia+Audio+Controller&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8Multimedia Audio Controller[/img], I did find plenty of results, but I'm not sure they're quite what I'm looking for. I considered using Windows default sound drivers, but for some reason they weren't automatically installed =/

I'm not at work now, so when I get there tomorrow I'll follow the advice from you guys (run the programs and, if they fail to help me, I'll open the damn thing, pull the card, and google whatever info I find).

Thanks everyone

quote:

Originally posted by bas Off topic: You're THAT well versed in Japanese? Awesome.

Hehe, thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Lira It doesn't tell me much about the sound card, Ian:

It says that the driver or device isn't installed. Please click to install.

EDIT: Just read the Device Manager window. It says Maruchi Media Audio Controller. Sounds like some dodgy generic knock-off.


I recommend PC Wizard. It should tell you all your sound card details...

http://www.cpuid.com/download/pcw2008_v184.exe

quote:

Originally posted by Lira

Gauss, I'm a designer at a Japanese language school... I didn't really have a choice (although that's the language we use there anyway ).

quote:

Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ It says that the driver or device isn't installed. Please click to install.

I know, that was the very first thing I did (I can read that, no worries about language barrier). It just goes to Windows "Add New Hardware" wizard, but it is completely useless - it can barely find the new hardware, let alone the old one

Thanks for the link, by the way

quote:

Originally posted by Lira Gauss, I'm a designer at a Japanese language school... I didn't really have a choice (although that's the language we use there anyway ). I know, that was the very first thing I did. It just goes to Windows "Add New Hardware" wizard, but it is completely useless - it can barely find the new hardware, let alone the old one Thanks for the link, by the way

EDIT: Just read the Device Manager window. It says Maruchi Media Audio Controller. Sounds like some dodgy generic knock-off.

quote:

Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ EDIT: Just read the Device Manager window. It says Maruchi Media Audio Controller. Sounds like some dodgy generic knock-off.

Actually, that's just the "Multi" in "Multimedia"

quote:

Originally posted by Lira Actually, that's just the "Multi" in "Multimedia"

Forgot you speak Japanese! Gomen ne!

quote:

Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ Forgot you speak Japanese! Gomen ne!

Nah, that's totally daijoubu

pop it open... look for the sound card (pop it out if you want to make your life easy) and look for any and all markings on the card. sometimes only serial numbers are listed and sometimes the make and model are listed... depends i guess. once you get all this info... then google is your friend. im sure you can find out what kind of card it is real quick, then download the drivers, and bam you're back in business.

at least thats what i would do and have done in the past.

It's probably just some standard on-board Realtek card. Live dangerously and download the generic/universal Realtek driver. What's the worst that could happen?

(note: I am not responsible for the worst that could happen.)

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Mikey Mike It's probably just some standard on-board Realtek card. Live dangerously and download the generic/universal Realtek driver. What's the worst that could happen? (note: I am not responsible for the worst that could happen.)

Thanks, Mike

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Mikey Mike It's probably just some standard on-board Realtek card. Live dangerously and download the generic/universal Realtek driver. What's the worst that could happen? (note: I am not responsible for the worst that could happen.)

OMG I tried this and all my data are gone and I cannot post on TA!

Mission Success!!!

Thanks, guys, the programs you recommended made my day

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