WIN VISTA - my sound card "disappeared"...

[ndawgg]

Hey everyone,

So I have a Dell laptop about 6 months old...I wanted to tell you its "stats" but i just noticed when I went into "System" it comes up saying Processor: Not Available nad RAM: Not Available.  I know I have at least a 2gig dual core...and I have 2 gigs of RAM.  Not sure why it can't recognize it...Also ever since I've had the computer I've been unable to load a webpage AND play an MP3 without the sound cracking and popping.  I have to turn off my wireless internet just to play the sound or video file without it skipping and crackling...I think a computer with my speed should be able to handle two easy things...

Anyway my newest and most frustrating problem is that when I tried to use "voice" on yahoo messenger it said I didn't have a sound card, which obviously I do.  When I load a video in VLC media player I can see the picture but there is no sound.  When I play an MP3 in winamp, winamp hardly ever opens anymore, but when it does it doesn't play and therefore there's no sound.  However I can hear the sound on youtube videos and the dings of my computer's noises. 

With some things I'm VERY computer literate...and in other things I'm fairly new.  And this whole thing is just driving me crazy.  I think my ongoing problems are Vista and not Dell related, but who knows. 

Can anyone help me sort out my audio issue?  (And if you've got any tips on why my supposedly fast computer can't do two things at once...that would be amazing too!!!!)

Thanks!

[ndawgg]

Okay, so I just went back into the control panel to fiddle with the "sound" option again, and THIS time it came up saying that my speakers were causing a problem and should be disabled.  I went in....tested them...heard the sound....and then saved my settings and now I'm getting audio again in VLC and winamp.  I don't know why that error message never came up on any of the other times I went into "sound" in the control panel....

So I guess that it's fixed???  But I still have issue with my overall performance (being unable to have my wireless turned on and play an mp3) on a new computer......and how my specs aren't showing up in "system"....

[Broni]

Also ever since I've had the computer I've been unable to load a webpage AND play an MP3 without the sound cracking and popping.  I have to turn off my wireless internet just to play the sound or video file without it skipping and crackling...I think a computer with my speed should be able to handle two easy things...

Why didn't you return it, in the first place?
Do you have Recovery CDs?

[ndawgg]

Returning it does sound like the smart idea now...but hindsight's 20/20   When you hear a little crackle in the sound you don't think much of it.  It's not 'till after awhile you realize that it happens when an mp3 is playing and the wireless is on...and that turning the wireless off makes it stop crackling and being jittery.  (It doesn't do it through the whole song....sometimes 4 times a song...sometimes it might get through a song without doing that. 

I do have the discs that Dell sent....one is a windows vista disc and the other is a Dell drivers disc I believe.

[Broni]

one is a windows vista disc

Is it Windows Vista disk (pretty unlikely), or Recovery disk?

[ndawgg]

So of course I've done the thing I always get mad at other people for doing.  Misplacing their recovery discs.  In my defense, I've just moved and haven't unpacked everything. 

I do have a recovery partition (D:) that came on my computer...so you're right the disc probably isn't a full vista version or anything like that. 

But I'm probably SOL until I unpack those discs though!

[Broni]

You better find it before your computer warranty expires.

[ndawgg]

Okay I've got the disc...It's a reinstallation DVD for Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit. 

It says "The software is already installed on your computer.  Only use this DVD to reinstall the operating system on a Dell PC"

[Broni]

Put it in, and it should give you Repair option, I hope.

[ndawgg]

When I put in the disc it gives me two options:

Check compatibility online
Install Now


Then it also says down below in smaller print:  Transfer files and settings from another computer

[Broni]

If you have any important data, back it up.
I assume, Vista will install over itself, but it's better to be careful.