Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

I just upgraded to vista and now my sound card needs driver but creative labs dont support the card anymore. does anyone know how or what i can do to make it work for vista?:@ thx for ur time in advance

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  • 3 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by zslwork

Dani AI

Generated

Brief, practical summary and updated options (years later)

The Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 situation you hit in 2007 is common: Vista changed the audio stack (WASAPI/UAA) and removed the old DirectSound hardware-acceleration path that many Live!/EMU cards relied on, so the “generic” inbox/Windows Update driver often only exposes basic stereo and misses legacy features.

What actually works now (two realistic paths)

  • Community WDM drivers (kX Project) — for EMU10K1/10K2-based cards (Sound Blaster Live! 5.1): kX provides a modern WDM driver, mixer and ASIO support; it’s the safest route to regain multichannel playback on Vista-era cards. Install steps in short: uninstall any Creative drivers, reboot, download the kX binaries, run setup as administrator and accept the driver prompts. On 64-bit systems you may need to disable/override driver-signing for the install (F8 boot option or use Test Signing for development/testing).

  • Unofficial “support packs” (daniel_k and similar) — packaged/modded Creative driver sets that many hobbyists used to restore 5.1 and extra features. They’re unofficial and require care (backup + restore point). If kX doesn’t fit your exact model these packs are the next option, but treat them as community software and read install notes closely.

Tips, gotchas and a short checklist

  • Confirm the card/chipset in Device Manager (look at Hardware Ids / EMU10K1/10K2).
  • Remove Creative drivers, create a system restore point, and disable driver signing only if required.
  • XP-compatibility trick or Windows Update can give sound (as noted) but often only stereo — that’s why some members like ultimately replaced the card.

Sources above cover the Vista audio model, kX project binaries and common community support packs—use them as the primary downloads and follow each project’s README for exact install steps.

Recommended Answers

All 14 Replies

Member Avatar for dcc

should have waited.

Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

lol....i got tired of waiting, but its on a seperate drive. i still have my original os on my default drive. the problems we are having is the same as when we all concerted to xp way back when, that is why i did a clean install on a seperate drive.

Member Avatar for dcc

Without knowing the specific board that you are referring to I can only suggest that you google and see if anyone offers newer drivers. Often there will be someone with alternative drivers.

Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

ty 4 the info.. nothing like a real response.

Member Avatar for Optical

heres your drivers, vista is there. Enjoy

=

Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

heres your drivers, vista is there. Enjoy

=

thx for the effort, but they dont have any supporting drivers for vista. they dont support this device anymore was hoping some one would've rewrote a driver.


thanks for trying

Member Avatar for samegoes

Hi, I had the same problem, couldn't find any vista drivers for my sound blaster 5.1 anywhere on the creative website. just when this was starting to get frustrating I noticed that one of the 13 updates that vista had automatically downloaded was a the driver for my sound blaster 5.1!!, so my advice would be to download all the microsoft updates for vista and you should be good to go. It's worth a shot it worked for me!!.

Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

if microsoft offers the drive now it should work. but i have now move on to a different sound card. thx for the info.

Member Avatar for joelgm

Unfortunately I had the same problem. I have Sound Blaster 5.1 sound card. I bought the pc just 2 weeks ago and now the site says Creative no longer supports it. You can download a driver from Microsoft's site, but it supports only stereo. Not 5.1 channel!

Member Avatar for faisal1122

i have the solution
simply use your xp driver for vista
to do this right click on driver's setup go properties-> compatibility
and check the box Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows Xp service Pack 2
then click ok
now you are able to install it your creative sound card on vista
install it and enjoy
for any problem
mail me at

commented: thank you +0
Member Avatar for joelgm

Sorry Faisal, that didnt work for me...It was one of the things I'd already tried out. It does install the XP driver under vista, but I wasnt able to get 5.1 audio..the output came as only 2.1.

Finally after getting a reply from Creative that development of the particular driver wasnt on the anvil anytime soon, I returned the 5.1 card, and got an Audigy 7.1...It does send 5.1 output to my 5.1 speakers.... ;)

Thanks for posting anyway!

i have the solution
simply use your xp driver for vista
to do this right click on driver's setup go properties-> compatibility
and check the box Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows Xp service Pack 2
then click ok
now you are able to install it your creative sound card on vista
install it and enjoy
for any problem
mail me at

Member Avatar for zslwork

just check your product brand website , and request them the updated driver .
definitely they will update it if the valid customer request for it

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