No Sound

No sound

If you don’t hear sounds (such as beeps and music), the problem could be caused by hardware or software.

Make sure the speakers are plugged into the computer. Make sure they’re plugged into the computer’s speaker jack tightly, not the microphone jack. If the speakers contain batteries, make sure the batteries are working. If the speakers need to be plugged into a wall socket or power strip, make sure they are. If the speakers have an ON button, make sure it’s in the ON position.

Make sure all volume knobs are turned up:

There’s probably a volume knob on the front of the speakers. On the back of the computer, where the speakers plug into the computer, you might find a volume dial.

If you’re still not hearing sounds, do software cleaning, which reduces memory conflicts, because when the computer is faced with a memory conflict it gives up trying to produce sounds.

If you’re not using modern Windows, you must put lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that tell the computer what kind of sound card you bought and how to handle it:

Look for old versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT by giving this command:

C:\>dir autoexec.*

That command makes the computer show you a list of AUTOEXEC files, with the dates they were changed. Find an AUTOEXEC file dated shortly before the sound problem occurred, and the use the sound lines in it, by putting those lines into your current AUTOEXEC.BAT file or by copying the entire old AUTOEXEC file to AUTOEXEC.BAT. For more info about AUTOEXEC.BAT, see the section on MS DOS. Phone me at 603-666-6644 if you want further help.

If you are using modern Windows, do the following instead.…

At the screen’s bottom right corner, next to the time, you might find a Volume icon (which looks like a blaring loudspeaker).

If so, do this:

Click the Volume icon. You see a Mute box; make sure it’s unchecked. You see a slider; drag it up to the top. Try clicking the slider; you should hear a bell sound, at the volume level you requested.

Click “Start” then “Programs” then “Accessories” then “Entertainment” (which Windows 95 calls “Multimedia”) then “Volume Control”. You’ll see many sliders. Make sure each volume slider is dragged to the top, make sure each balance slider is centered, and make sure each Mute box is unchecked. Then close the window (by clicking its X button).

Click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel”. Double-click “Sounds”. Make sure the Schemes box says “Windows Default”. (If it doesn’t, click that box’s down-arrow, then choose “Windows Default” from the list.)

Then do this test:

In the big white box, scroll down to “Start Windows”. Make sure the Name box says “The Microsoft Sound”. Make sure the Preview box has a loudspeaker in it, instead of being blank. Make sure the triangle to its right is black, instead of being grayed out.

If the Preview box is empty and the triangle is grayed out, the computer thinks you have no sound card. If you’re lucky, and the triangle is black, click it: you should hear a long loud chord, accompanied by a background of synthesized outer-space new-age sounds.

If you don’t hear that chord, the computer thinks everything is fine, but everything isn’t.

If you’re still not having any luck, you can try having Windows redetect your hardware (click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel” then double-click “Add New Hardware” then press ENTER), but that’s typically useless.

An approach that’s slightly more likely to succeed, if you have the patience, is to reinstall Windows.