Realtek AC97 causing hell..

[ACCORD MAN]

Setup :
AMD 3000+ (939)
Giga K8NF-9
512 x 2 (OCZ)
WD 120G (ATA)
WD 160G (SATA)


The problem:
I'll admit, everything was fine until I tried CCleaner (to "clean" my reg).
Then I had no more sound.. Whats strange is that in my DEVICE MANAGER everything looks fine.. But when I want sound I get a "bad direct sound driver" message from winamp or "There is a problem with your sound device" from WMP ..

Also, if I uninstall the Realtek AC97 item and reinstall it.. Then after a reboot I'll have sound, however afer a 2nd reboot the sound is gone and I get the same error message.

 

[ACCORD MAN]

PS I did back up my reg, but when trying to import the backup, I get an error message (Cannot import xxx. Error accessing the registry).. So much for backing the reg.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Welcome to the forums.

"Sounds" like time to get a separate sound card.

 

[helpmeout]

Yeah, get a sound card. Both my Abit IS7 and my Asus P4P800-E Deluxe have the onboard Realtek, and both had lousy audio and problems.. Comments on both the Abit and the Asus forums/spt sites from a lot of people with problems.
I've been using CrapCleaner since just after it came out and never had a problem. A lot of people swear by it. Don't get rid of it because of a problem with a poor on board audio.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, but in this case, the problem (apparently?) started right after using CCleaner, so it is prime suspect numero uno. I have onboard Realtek ALC650 audio myself, and while the quality leaves a lot to be desired, the drivers have always more-or-less worked.

From the description, I almost think that some of Windows' internal registry settings for DirectX audio/WDM/multimedia may have been corrupted, as has been known to occasionally happen. If that's true, then they need to be fixed, otherwise purchasing and installing a discrete sound card may still not solve the problem. As for how to actually do that, I don't remember, sorry. :|

 

[helpmeout]

"while the quality leaves a lot to be desired, the drivers have always more-or-less worked"

You're probably right. I guess I can't remember having a real driver problem, unless a driver caused little "stutters" in my music. Never really used Realtek long enough to try to pin it down. I put in a cheap SB card, and I'm happy.

With CCleaner, I guess I'll keep using it and watch for others' complaints.

 

[wayne2456]

Did you try to go to realtek.com to get an update driver?:roll:

 

[helpmeout]

I tried updating from Realtek. Against my better judgement, I even tried drivers from the MS update site.