Member Avatar for tazsnoop

Well i'm not that good at computers but I'll try my best to give as much information as I can so maybe someone can help me out. I have an older computer, it's a compaq, Just installed windows 2000 pro on it and it's just the operating system and nothing else. It works fine but I have no sound what so ever. I have tried to look up some help tips online but I think I might have done more harm then good. One sight told me to uninstall all of the driver from under the device manager, then sound, video and game controlls, and restart the computer and it would detect the hardware and install them again. Well I did that and and it did not do anything. I have no idea of what sound card I have, I tried to follow some steps to find out but it comes up that there is no sound device detected. But there has to be, I have jacks on the back of the computer for speakers and mic. I'm not sure of what I should do form here. Should I try to reinstall the OS again or is there something else I can do to try to get the sound back. Please help, If there is any information you need from me just let me know and I will do what ever you ask. Thank You!!!!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Akayus

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Summary for (building on ): a clean Windows 2000 install will not automatically provide every vendor driver. A missing audio device usually means the driver for the on-board or PCI audio chipset is not present or the audio hardware is disabled or unplugged — reinstalling the OS rarely fixes that by itself.

Basic checks:

  • Confirm speakers/headphones are powered and plugged into the correct green line-out jack (not the mic jack). Try the speakers on another machine or try headphones in the PC to rule out the speakers.
  • Check the BIOS/Setup for an "Onboard Audio" or "Integrated Peripherals" setting; it can be disabled on some Compaq boards. Enter BIOS at boot (key varies by model).
  • Look at the case/back panel: if there is a separate PCI audio card, it may be present and require its own driver.

How to identify the audio device and get drivers:

  • Locate the Compaq model number or service tag (label on the case or inside the case). With that, download the exact Windows 2000 audio driver from the vendor’s support site.
  • If the model is unknown, inspect Device Manager for Unknown Devices or devices with a yellow icon. Open their Properties and look for any identifier strings (often containing "VEN" or "DEV"); those codes identify the chipset and let you search for the correct driver.
  • If Device Manager shows nothing at all under sound/video, the hardware may be disabled in BIOS or physically absent; another way to identify hardware is to boot a Linux live CD/USB and run a PCI scan (lspci) to list audio chipset IDs.

Driver install tips and cautions:

  • Prefer official Compaq/HP or chipset-vendor drivers (Realtek, Conexant, Intel) rather than generic “driver download” sites. Use Device Manager -> Update Driver -> Have Disk and point to the unzipped driver files.
  • If hardware is dead or unsupported by Windows 2000, a cheap USB audio adapter or inexpensive PCI sound card will restore sound without fighting old drivers.

These steps cover the most common causes for no audio after a Win2K install and give a clear path to identifying the exact driver needed.

Member Avatar for Akayus

Windows 2000 is not as good as Windows XP at automatically detecting hardware and installing the appropriate drivers. The instructions you had were probably geared more toward XP than 2k.

Do you have your Compaq model number? It might be possible to find hardware information and drivers on the hp/compaq website if you enter the model number.

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