[pconnell]

We have no icon for sound on the bottom right task bar, we don't even know the brand of sound card we have, (we bought the computer at Circuit City and the paper work just says "standard system device") we've tried following the trouble shooting steps from the windows site to no avail. We've also gone to my computer and checked all our settings, nothing seems to work, any suggestions?? HELP

[Scleros]

So many possibilities...

If XP was reloaded from recovery media, the necessary drivers should be installed for the particular audio device. However, sometimes recovery media aren't well tested and the wrong drivers get installed or the install fails and the audio drivers must be located on the computer and installed manually.

If XP was reloaded from a vanilla Microsoft retail or OEM disc, the drivers for the audio device probably need to be installed. If drivers are not installed, the device will show as such in Windows Device Manager. Additionally, the chipset drivers for your particular motherboard may need to be installed first before the audio device is properly enumerated. If this is the case, I suggest wiping the drive, reinstalling Windows XP, installing the chipset driver, and then all the remaining drivers.

In either case, to obtain the proper drivers, the audio hardware must be identified. Large system manufacturers (Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway) generally have all the necessary software bits for a particular computer model on their website and may even allow search by machine serial number. Otherwise, drivers for discrete audio cards or audio integrated on the motherboard may be found on the card or motherboard manufacturer's site - identify the card or motherboard. Otherwise, for no-name brands/unknown motherboard, the audio chip model can be located on the motherboard or card and a reference driver searched for and possibly obtained from the audio chip vendor.

Also, check Windows Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices to see that the "Place volume icon in the taskbar" option is selected.

[Ruthe1]

Another idea may be to go to
DriverScanner - Driver update tool
Or driversPlanet.com or driverZone.com.
I've used all three. They will scan your machine and make recommendations for you as to what drivers you need. (Some are better than others.)