Accidentally uninstalled sound driver

shazamaca

I have accidentally uninstalled my sound driver and am now unable to listen to any sounds on my laptop.

I have been through the troubleshooter but can't resolve my problem. When I click on the device manager my sound driver is showing (C-Media AC97 Audio device) but it has a yellow exclaimation mark next to it. I read on the troubleshooter that this means there is a hardware conflict so tried the hardware troubleshooter but still have not got anyware.

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to get my sound back please. Not much of a techie so please be gentle with me.

imho

Can you not get into "system restore" and take the computer back to the time before you uninstalled the driver

shazamaca

If I do a sytem restore will that delete everything off my hard drive as I have loads of pics on my laptop that I don't want to lose.

Also how do I do a system restore?

PaulK_3

Yellow asterisks mean many things including no driver installed. What laptop is it and have you tried downloading and re-installing the driver for it again?

PaulK_3

System restore does not delete documents or files.
How to use
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

imho

No it wont delete every thing off your hard drive . Take the computer back to before you had problems with your sound driver .
Its start ... all programs ...accessories ... system restore .
I am not sure but i think if you just uninstall the driver and then boot up the computer it will automatically install the driver for you , but wait until one of the techie guys come and say its ok

shazamaca

I have a Advent 7081. When I go into the device manager and click on properties for the driver it says under device status (the device cannot start code 10) - whatever that means. It tells me to try the troubleshooter but that has got me nowhere.

imho

Found this
If you run into the error “This device cannot start. Code 10″ (often followed by a driver identifier, for example “This device cannot start. Code 10 in audio driver”), here is what it means.
The Windows error “This device cannot start. Code 10″ or “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” is a hardware error that most commonly means that you have a bad, missing, or incompatible device driver. So, for example, “This device cannot start. Code 10 in audio driver” means that you have a bad or missing or incompatible driver for your sound card.
The technical explanation for this message, according to Microsoft, is this:
“If the device has a FailReasonString value in its hardware key, that string appears as the error message. The driver or enumerator puts this registry string value there. If there is no FailReasonString in the hardware key, you receive the following error message:
This device cannot start. (Code 10)”
What does that mean in plain English? It means that if the device which is throwing the error has added its own custom error text to your Windows system when the device was installed, then when the device encounters an error, you will see the custom error message specific to that device. But if it doesn’t have its own custom error message, then Windows uses its own generic error message for devices, which is “This device cannot start. (Code 10)”
Microsoft recommends that when this happens, you click “Update Driver” to update the drivers for the device. You can also start the Windows troubleshooting wizard by going to the general properties tab of the device, and clicking on “Troubleshoot”.
Before doing this, be sure that you have the correct and most up-to-date versions of the driver(s) for that device. You can also try uninstalling and reinstalling the device, using the disk which came with it.
Finally, you can go to the website of the device’s manufacturer, and check their downloads or support section for current, up-to-date drivers.

imho

If i was you i would take the easiest option and try a system restore , if you only just uninstalled the sound driver you should be ok . If that dont work try to update the driver in device manager . Good luck .

PaulK_3

This forum thread has links to most drivers for the advent, if a restore doesn't work, download and install the soundchip drivers. I take it you don't have restore CDs.
http://www.w00tw00t.co.uk/support/viewtopic.php?t=387&start=0

shazamaca

Thanks for all the help people sound is now working loud and proud :j