Installation of the windows operating system, as a rule, requires additional hardware configuration - you will need to install drivers for the processor, video card, network card and, of course, sound. But how to determine which one is needed sound driver, and where to get it?
Why windows can't see the sound card
Sometimes the windows operating system cannot independently select the driver for the sound card. In this case, you will not hear the welcome sound of the operating system loading, you will not be able to listen to music or watch a movie on your computer. The reason is usually because sound device either too rare or released much later than your operating system version. In these cases, you need to install the driver yourself, and there are at least three ways to do this.
Method number 1: search in the Microsoft database
Sometimes, in order to install a driver, it is enough to use the resources of the operating system itself. To do this, you need to open the properties of the My Computer menu and launch the Device Manager. In the list that appears in front of you, select the sound card, usually marked with an exclamation mark, then select "Update drivers" and, finally, "Search automatically for updated drivers". When the search is successful, click the "Install" button.
Method number 2: manual search
The operating system is not always able to find the right software for your sound card, and then you have to look for the driver yourself. All you need to do is open search engine, enter the name of the sound adapter and the word "driver" and select the appropriate set of drivers. How do you know which sound drivers you need? This can be done using the device manager - in the list of drivers it will be a device like realtek, so you can find out which driver is worth. It is best to download the drivers on the website of the sound card manufacturer or motherboard, or from specialized driver sites. When you download the driver to your computer, open the Device Manager, select "Search for drivers on this computer" and browse to the folder where you saved the driver you are looking for.
Method number 3: programs for finding drivers
If the search failed manually and using the operating system itself, entrust it to the program. What program to update drivers? You can do this using programs that contain a driver package (installers). These include Sam Drivers, DriverMax, Driver Checker, Device Doctor, and many.
Today we will look at:
There are various reasons why you need a personal computer. This is not always done using programs with automatic driver selection.
In addition, what sound driver is needed for your PC, you need to know for reasons of deterioration of sound devices on the computer.
Sound card is not detected by OS
Consider the cases when the operating system is not able to independently select a driver for a sound card personal computer... During the reinstallation of the system and its further reboot, this is determined by the absence of sound signals.
The reason for creating such a situation may be the installed sound equipment on the personal computer, which: rarely occurs; the release date is older than the installed OS.
In this case, you need to manually install the sound driver. There are several ways to determine the correct sound driver for your PC.
Microsoft Help Identifying Your Sound Driver
The operating system of the computer offers its assistance in determining the correct sound driver. It is necessary to direct the cursor to the folder "My computer" press the right mouse button (RMB), then "Properties", then "Hardware". You can make it easier: the "My Computer" folder, click the RMB, go to the Device Manager section.
A list will open in the device manager, select a sound card (there is no driver, next to it is exclamation mark). Select the line, at the top there is the option "Update driver", then the item "Search for drivers", when everything happens with a positive result, the "Install" window will be offered.
Manual search for a sound driver
When automatic selection the sound driver did not work, you have to try to find it manually, for this we go to any search engine (Google, Yandex). Then in search bar we enter the name of our sound device on the PC and add "+ driver", in the window that opens, select the one we need.
What driver is needed for a personal computer? This is easy to see in the Device Manager tab. It is recommended to download the driver on the official website of the manufacturer of the installed motherboard (when the sound card is built into it). It is also suggested to download a driver from a site specializing in updating this hardware for a PC.
After downloading the driver, go back to the "Device Manager" tab, open "Search for drivers on PC", indicate the location where it was saved, "Install". 
Installing the sound driver program
There are times when it is difficult for a computer user to find a sound driver manually and using the OS, then it is suggested to search for it special program... Currently, there are several programs for these purposes: Driver Checker, Sam Drivers, Device Doctor, and other programs.
To work with the interface of programs of this type, of course, on an intuitive level.
There are different cases in which you need to determine the sound driver for your PC, experts advise:
- Determine the model of the installed sound device on the PC (read on the computer). Maybe the lack of sound due to the non-installed hardware, the prohibition of its use in the BIOS.
- When the sound is integrated on the PC, it is recommended to download the sound driver only from the site of the "motherboard" manufacturer, or in the case of a separate installation of the sound card, write off the chip marking from it. Find the required driver through the marking search system.
- It is recommended to use the AIDA 64 program, it will not only show the required sound driver, but also all the installed equipment, you can also determine the marking of the chip.
Many users have already learned how to install the Windows operating system on their own. But more often than not normal installation is not enough for stable work all equipment included in your computer or laptop. Problems arise already at the first start. And one of the main problems is the lack of drivers, including for sound devices. There are many ways to correctly and quickly select required drivers, some of which are provided by the Windows operating system itself.
You will need
- administrator account
Instructions
One of the problems that often accompanies the Windows XP operating system is sound problems. As a rule, the reason lies in the absence or malfunction of audio drivers. Let's take a closer look at what sound drivers are available for Windows XP.
Quite often, many Windows XP users have problems with sound. And in most cases, audio problems are due to malfunctioning or missing audio drivers that ensure the system is functioning properly and the sound is processed through the sound card. In this case, the question arises: how to determine which audio drivers are suitable for Windows XP?
I would like to make a small remark right away: the type of drivers does not depend in any way on what operating system is installed on the user's computer. That is why the same audio driver can be installed on both Windows XP and other types of operating systems. However, as part of the article, we will consider the most commonly used software that is installed on XP, and in particular on its latest build, SP3 (Service Pack 3).
How do I determine which drivers to install?
Let's say you have determined that you have a missing or faulty audio driver and you need to install it again. The next step is to determine which software you need to install and which sound card you have on your computer. This is all done quite simply: through the "Start" panel in Windows XP SP3, go to the "Control Panel" section and click on the subsection of the "Sound, speech and audio devices" menu. After entering this subsection, you must select the item "Sounds and audio devices".
Click on it and another window appears, in which you can immediately see which audio driver you need. In our case, the VIA HD Audio Drivers package is installed on Windows XP SP3.
Consequently, our video card is "sharpened" for these drivers, and in case of their absence or malfunction, it is necessary to install them. Now let's determine what drivers exist for the correct operation of the sound card.
Types of sound drivers for Windows XP
There are just a few basic types of audio drivers that are installed on the Windows XP SP3 operating system. Now that you know the sound device on your computer, you can decide which driver is right for you:
- Analog Devices SoundMAX. This audio driver is used quite rarely, it is suitable for both 32- and 64-bit Windows XP SP3.
- C-Media driver. It is a generic name for a large series of different types of drivers that can be installed on your computer. There are versions of CM106, CM8770, CM8787, CM8768 and many others. You can install any of these packages as your sound device supports any driver package. However, it is best to install the latest modification - CM8788.
- Conexant Hermosa HD Audio Driver. Can be installed on 32- or 64-bit Windows XP SP3. These drivers are rarely used and are mainly installed in the USA and Western Europe.
- Realtek. One of the most common drivers for the Windows XP operating system. With a probability of 80% (especially if you have old computer), you have a sound device that supports these drivers. There are several types - HD Audio Driver, AC97, HDMI Audio Driver.
- VIA HD Audio Drivers. This is a driver package that fits all VIA sound cards. Drivers are designed to work in all operating systemsfrom Windows XP to Windows 8.
Once you have decided what audio drivers you need, you just need to install them. We recommend using the official websites for this, where you can download updated driver packages for your sound card absolutely free of charge.
