Deleted SoundMax; Lost Sound; Now What?

[Clueless in Seattle]

This morning I accidentally deleted the SoundMax program from my old generic PC running Windows XP and now have no sound. I'd be grateful for some guidance on how to get the sound working again.

I'm guessing that I'll first have to identify something like the sound chip or sound card in my PC. And then have to search for a replacement sound driver.

This is a hand-me-down PC, so I have no idea what's in it. And I'm an old guy with chronic health issues that severely limit my ability to tackle projects like this.

Can you help me figure out what my first step(s) might be?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[reedo_43]

You need to identify the mainboard and then go to manufactures website and download the audio drivers.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Download that program, install it and run it. Click on the mainboard tab for the info. Good luck!

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

Thanks a million for that speedy and easy to understand reply, reedo_43!

I've made a screen shot of the CPU-Z results. You can look at them here:

http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/Clueless_in_Seattle/media/HDNW%20CPU-Z%20RESULTS_zpsduqiw04g.jpg.html

It looks to me like it might be an ASUS P4P800-VM motherboard.

I went to the ASUS site, https://www.asus.com/us/support/ , but everything I tried to enter into the search box got zero results.

So I'm going to need some help finding the correct web site, and figuring out what search string to enter.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

P.S. If those URLs I included above don't come through in my post, let me know how to submit my screen shot.

P.P.S. That first screenshot I uploaded came out too small. Here's a much larger and clearer version:

http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q708/Clueless_in_Seattle/HDNW%20CPU-Z%20RESULTS%20CLOSE-UP_zpsmk9hakt6.jpg

 

[reedo_43]

Thanks a million for that speedy and easy to understand reply, reedo_43!

I've made a screen shot of the CPU-Z results. You can look at them here:

http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/Clueless_in_Seattle/media/HDNW%20CPU-Z%20RESULTS_zpsduqiw04g.jpg.html

It looks to me like it might be an ASUS P4P800-VM motherboard.

I went to the ASUS site, https://www.asus.com/us/support/ , but everything I tried to enter into the search box got zero results.

So I'm going to need some help finding the correct web site, and figuring out what search string to enter.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

P.S. If those URLs I included above don't come through in my post, let me know how to submit my screen shot.

P.P.S. That first screenshot I uploaded came out too small. Here's a much larger and clearer version:

http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q708/Clueless_in_Seattle/HDNW%20CPU-Z%20RESULTS%20CLOSE-UP_zpsmk9hakt6.jpg

 

[reedo_43]

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/Asus/Asus-P4P800-VM-SoundMAX-Audio-Driver-5-12-01-3538.shtml#download

It was hard to find, don't feel bad. Click on 2nd link. Once downloaded you will have to right click on it to extract it and then run the setup. Good luck!

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

Hi again, reedo_43,

Thanks for that link.

I downloaded and unzipped the files.

Then I searched Tom's Hardware for installation instructions and found this thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1897013/reinstall-computer-system-audio-soundmax-audio-drivers-control-panel.html

I followed those instructions and now I've got my sound back on my computer.

Thanks for the help. This is a great web site and I'm grateful to you and all the other folks here who are so generous in sharing your time and expertise.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[reedo_43]

Just made my day! Glad I could help...

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

One last question:

I have to confess that I read your instructions so hastily that I overlooked your instruction to click on the second link on the download page. So I ended up clicking on the first link.

I'm curious why you specified the second link.

 

[reedo_43]

The first did not work for me.