All right,

I'm not THAT good with computers, but I just got Windows Xp Professional on this computer. (I know, JUST upgrading to Win Xp in 2008). Now, everything on the Operating System works fine, except for the sound. When I plugged my usual speakers in and turned them on, I continued onto Windows Media Player to listen to a disc, and a message popped up saying that there weren't drivers installed for sound[or something similar to that]. I tried several times to use the Add Hardware device, because when I looked on the Sound Settings on the Control Panel, nothing registers for sound. All buttons to adjust settings are unable to be used because there's nothing installed, I'm guessing(I'm bad at this, but I digress). After several tries, I was able to find hardware working for the speakers, each time I tried to install the hardware, Multimedia Audio controller and game controller things popped up,and I haven't been able to install them successfully because the OS can't find anything that works with them. I'm extremely confused, as you all may be too from my explanation. I've tried downloading drivers for this and nothing works. Only one time did it say the drivers were installed and usable, but the problem with sound continued. Can anyone help?

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Computer:

Intel(R)

Celeron(R)CPU 2.60GHz
2.60GHz, 504 of Ram

If you did a clean XP install, you'll need to locate the correct XP audio driver archive on your computer manufacturer's or motherboard manufacturer's website (usually in the support or downloads section), download it, extract the archive if necessary, and install the driver. They usually have a setup.exe or similar executable that automates the installation process. If not, you have locate the device in the Device Manager, right-click it and choose 'Update Driver... ' and proceed through the Hardware Update Wizard (the things that popped up for you) selecting the .INF file in the files you extracted.

If your audio device does not show up in the Device Manager, you may need to first install the motherboard's chipset drivers so all the component devices get recognized properly. These drivers are available on the motherboard manufacturer's website.

If you did an upgrade XP install and the necessary drivers for your hardware were not included in XP, it's possible driver support for your hardware ended with Windows 98 or ME.

Post your audio card / computer / motherboard brand and model and I can probably point you to the correct driver.