Vanished Sound and USB Problems

[bjadams44]

I'm trying to help a friend with an older computer running Windows 2K. His sound has disappeared from the computer. There is no little speaker icon on the task bar and when I try to adjust properties for speakers, mic input etc., the choices are grayed out. I removed his sound card and switched to the onboard sound but that made no difference. The device manager reports the sound is working properly.

Also and possibly related is that only one of his USB ports seems to work anymore. When anything is plugged into the other ports the computer starts up without video. It seems to be loading properly but who can tell without video or sound?

I thinking now that perhaps something shorted out the motherboard?

Any guesses would be appreciated.

[sammy2066]

As a starter, remove the sound card from the motherboard, clean the contacts with an eraser, discharge it, and reseat it. If you have an extra PCI port, try using that.

[bjadams44]

Originally Posted by sammy2066

As a starter, remove the sound card from the motherboard, clean the contacts with an eraser, discharge it, and reseat it. If you have an extra PCI port, try using that.

Thanks for the reply but I already removed the sound card from the computer and enabled the motherboard's on board audio and installed the driver for that. It made no difference.

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by bjadams44

...
I thinking now that perhaps something shorted out the motherboard?

Any guesses would be appreciated.

I'd try a repair of Windows and see what you get... you need the Windows 2K Pro CD and just boot from it and choose the repair option 'R'...

It may be a hardware problem but software problems can manifest all sorts of strange behaviour...