Hi, I'm DaMoogle and I'm here with an odd problem. Today, Windows Update got some updates for Excel 2003, IE7, and Outlook. I've tried to download them multiple times, but they will not install properly. In fact, when I clicked install, the yellow icon disappeared from the taskbar (i.e it did not hide itself), but the computer appeared normal until I clicked on volume control. Then, I got a message saying "There are no active mixer devices available." I got this message in the past, so I simply restarted the computer. Everything worked fine, but somehow Windows XP forgot that I already tried to install the updates. So I tried two more times, but on the third time something really weird happened. I went through the usual steps(install, wait, check volume control), but this time I was on Youtube while using Firefox. I wanted to adjust the volume settings, so I went to Volume Control and got the "no active mixer devices" message, yet my laptop volume settings worked (i.e the external volume buttons on the keyboard) and I still got sound from the sound card. This has never happened to me before. So, how can I install the updates without messing up Volume Control?

Try reinstalling the soundcarddrivers after you've done the windowsupdates.

regards Niek

So if I have a Gatway laptop, how can I reinstall the drivers?

Thanks to M$ and their releasing IE7 with all of its bugs people are having problems similar to yours. One work around that seems to have worked for others is to switch the updates from automatic to manual, reboot and download updates, change back to automatic update and reboot.

thank God I seen your post b/c I've been having the same exact problems which the tech from my anti virus vender couldn't even figure out. I've tried EVERYTHING &
now I cant even take the MS update for my Real AC' 97 Audio driver. Seems alot of ppl r having the same problems.
How I got mines to work temporarily till MS gets a fix is "roll back my driver to last working state", which is another way to also reinstall drivers. This is for Windows XP

How to Roll Back to the Previous Version of a Device Driver

Device Driver Roll Back reinstalls the driver you were using previously and restores any driver settings that were changed when you added the new driver. Note that you cannot restore printer drivers with Device Driver Roll Back. To roll back a device driver to a previous version: 1. Log on to the computer by using an account with administrative privileges.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Under Pick a category, click Performance and Maintenance.
4. Under or pick a Control Panel icon, click System.
5. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
6. In the device list, expand the device type branch that you want to work with. For example, Display adapters.
7. Right-click the device that you want to work with, and then click Properties.
8. On the Driver tab, click Roll Back Driver. Click Yes when you receive the following message:
Are you sure you would like to roll back to the previous driver?
9. The previous device driver is restored. Click Close.
10. Quit Device Manager, and then click OK.

...oops forgot to mention that it works till I reboot, then the stupid problem comes back. I use it to hear my music. Hopefully MS comes out w/ a fix but the tech gave me a num to 'supposedly' free help from MS tech (the first call) 1-800-936-5700 and 1-800-642-7676