Member Avatar for +alostboi+

hello peoples. i am new around these parts. i recently had some malware issues on my computer and in the process of ridding myself of it my soundcard somehow broke. i am almost positive i deleted some sort of windows driver for it, but it's showing up in my control panel and hardware devices. for some reason it's not showing up in the drop down list for Default Device in either playback or record. also, my Sndvol32 doesn't seem to work anymore.

when i try to play an mp3 in windows media player, i get an error message saying the device is either not working, being used by another app or is not being found.

the card is a Creative SB Live! Value (WDM) that came with a DELL Dimension 8200.

any help anyone here could give would be highly appreciated. thanks in advance.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by warner wms

Dani AI

Generated

Brief, practical checklist (ordered) to diagnose a WDM/Windows Audio failure after malware removal — ties together the points from , and without repeating linked downloads.

  1. Quick service/device sanity checks
  • Verify the Windows Audio service (AudioSrv) and Plug and Play are running and set to Automatic (Services MMC or command line).
  • In Device Manager expand “Sound, video and game controllers,” enable View → Show hidden devices and remove any ghost/greyed entries for audio.
  • If the card is present with errors, right‑click → Uninstall (use the option to remove driver files only if a known good copy is available), then reboot so Windows redetects hardware.
  1. Restore core multimedia files and registry entries
  • Run System File Checker to replace missing/corrupt system audio files:
    sfc /scannow
  • Confirm key files exist (example: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\wdmaud.sys and C:\Windows\System32\mmsys.cpl) and inspect the Drivers32 registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

    (backup the registry before editing).

  1. Isolation and hardware checks
  • Test the card with a Linux live CD or another machine to separate hardware failure from Windows corruption.
  • Check BIOS for disabled onboard audio.
  • Create a new Windows account to rule out a per‑profile mixer issue.
  1. Recovery and safety notes
  • If the above fails, try a System Restore to a point before the malware removal, then a repair/repair‑install as a last non‑destructive step.
  • Avoid random driver sites or pirated installers (they often reintroduce malware). Drivers for hardware are normally provided free by the device maker or the PC vendor; commercial audio software requires a valid license.

A short answer to : hardware drivers are usually free from the maker; installing paid applications without a license is illegal and risky.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for DuncanIdaho

Head to Creative's website, and download the newest drivers for your card.

Install the latest drivers for your card and reboot, should fix you up quite nicely, and fix all the errors you've listed. :)

Good luck!

Member Avatar for +alostboi+

thanks for the reply.

yea, i had tried that and the creative labs site didn't point me in the right direction of the driver. instead, i got driver updates. but i think i may have found the full driver pack at http://www.soundcard-drivers.com/companies/258.htm (if anyone who surfs here wants to know). i will post again if that doesn't solve.

thanks again!

Member Avatar for Catweazle

If that soundcard is still IN a Dell Dimension, get the drivers from Dell instead. Creative drivers for SBLive cards in Dell PCs are a tad different to standard Creative drivers.

Member Avatar for +alostboi+

i actually got the driver pack from the link i posted and it seems to be working fine. if something gets messed up, i will post back here with my findings.

but thank you both for the help! :)

Member Avatar for DuncanIdaho

No problem. Rock on! ;)

Member Avatar for warner wms

is it possible to download and install the software from the net without purchasing it?

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