How to get 2nd pcie slot working without using first one

[IO_OI]

Hi,
I have a geforce 7950 gx2 gpu that is very large. It goes into the graphics card slot but it covers up the first pci slot. I have a sound card in the second pci slot but windows (xp) wont recognize it. The drivers are installed and the sound card was working in the first pci slot. i think it has something to do with the fact that the mobo doesn't register the 2nd slot without the first being used.
Thanks

 

[1LiquidPC]

It could be a bad slot, was anything else ever installed in your 2nd PCI slot? AFAIK, standard PCI slots can be populated in any order, unlike PCI-E, which tends to require single graphics card setups installed in the top-most available slot.