Windows Sound System??

[graeme]

Please somebody help. I am running Windows 98 and think I have an 'onboard' soundcard - Windows Sound System. The problem is I cannot use any recording or composing software, the cursor/line which moves across the tracks/music will not move!! This is the case on Windows Sopund Recorder, Cool Edit, Cubasis etc - I thinki I may have damaged the drivers possibly when loading up other software?? Also in 'multimedia' in control panel, the recording facility is greyed - if anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful.......

Graeme, UK

 

[ola]

Uhm, get a real soundcard instead of using the built in one. No need for a fancy +$500 on for starters but virtually anything is better than the built in.

Also, see if updating the drivers help. There should be driverd on the W98 CD.

 

[shem]

I disagree, I have windows 98 with a wdm crystal internal soundcard that sounds great! Almost no noise and great sampling. I think that you might try to FDISK and reinstall your operating system and see if that clears up the problem.

 

[graeme]

Thanks shem....what do you mean by FDISK though??

Thought Ist reply a bit negative....cheers!!

 

[RWhite]

Hmmm... "Windows Sound System" was a name for a now long defunct sound standard used in Windows 3.1 I'll assume this new thing just happens to be sharing the same name.

FDISK is the first step in re-installing everything, it errases EVERYTHING from your hard drive and prepares it to be reformated again.

Without trying to sound insulting, do you know Windows and computer software well? Before rebuilding your system there are a number of steps you want to take, not the least of which is to BACK UP any important data or drivers you need. I would recomend first trying to have a friend who is Windows literate take a look at your system to try to trouble shoot it. I wont go into the steps here, it would be a LOT of typing, but I have posted info before and there is a ton of info on this site and the web in general on how to trouble shoot these kinds of problems.

And as Ola said, it may also be worth it buy a seperate sound card. You can find Sound Blaster Live cards as cheap as $50 if you hunt. However even if you do this you will probably want to find out why your current sound died, it could be a symptom of a larger problem.

 

[shem]

graeme, yes I agree with rwhite, talk to someone first if you dont know how to reinstall your o.s.! I have a simple setup where i just back up my "stuff" and then erase everything and the HP came with a disk with the o.s., drivers, everything (and then some) that completely installs when you pop the disk in, so that s pretty easy compared to some systems. If you dont want all the headache, then maybe a in expensive add on card would be good.