I can't get sound from my XP Pro desktop. Control Panel => Sound Audio
Devices => Volume tab, it says no audio device. I do get warning beeps, when
I'm closing a program, and it wants to see if I want to save it first. No
other sound though.
Has it ever worked or never worked?
Beeps are somewhat different than sounds. Beeps come from your
speaker for things like when you turn on your computer and the BIOS
starts, or some other problems can cause a beep(s).
Right click My Computer, Properties, Hardware, Device Manager. There
should be a Sounds section you can expand by clicking the + box. Do
you see any question marks or Xs there or anywhere in Device
manager?
If yes, what and where. They should be fixed. You may be able to get
it working there depending on the error(s). Try to right click the
offending device and enable it, start it, update the driver... It
needs to be enabled somehow. Make sure the Integrated device is
enabled if there is one. You may be prompted to reboot. See if your
Windows sounds now work.
If you sound device is built in to your motherboard (an Integrated
sound device) make sure it is enabled then you may need to install/
reinstall the sound drivers for it but to do that, you need to
identify you motherboard and/or BIOS to download them. You can't
figure that out when it boots (you have to be fast).
Here is some cute free tool to tell you all about it your motherboard,
but there are many such tools from which to choose.
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
or
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
Jose