audio problems

Hey, I'm new to this sight, and i was just wondering if you guys could help me with a problem im having?

I got the blaster worm virus (I think that's the name) and i ended up having to format everything using my xp disk.
When i got everything up and running i still had: no sound (if i have integrated and pci sound do i have to select one to run off of before it will recognize the device?) and my video card bugs out like once an hour and i have to turn my comp off with out shutting down... any ideas on how to help me get my sound and video working properly?

Thanks
Buy_Food

I spelled "site" wrong.....

Welcome to WD buy_food. You might check your device drivers and make sure they are all ok in device manager after a reload you might need to update the sound and video card drivers. If you right click My Computer goto properties then the hardware tab then device manager see what it says under display adapters and sound, video, game controllers.

OK. In the device manager tab my ethernet controller, multimedia audio controller, my pci input device, and my sm bus controller all have the yellow exclamation point next to them... i dont think it is a problem with my video card drivers.. i just downloaded the newest one from ATI before i posted.
I dont know but maybe it could be a problem such as my vid card is covered in dust or the vid card fan isnt working properly.. but i cant check due to warranty issues... and if i want a tech to co,e check it out i have to wait like 3-8 weeks... but i dont know could dust on, or an improper fan make my monitor turn off and not turn back on.. or make my whole screen just go black and unresponsive... or games freeze up alot now when i try and play... could those be related to the vid card issues i think may be causing the problem?

Also here is some information about my comp

System model: Dell dimension 4550
O.S.: Windows xp home edition service pack
Processor: 2666 MHz intel pentium 4 8Kb primary memory cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache
Main circuit board: Dell computer corp. 0m0321 Bus clock 533Mhz
BIOS: Dell computer corporation a05
Drives: 59.97 GB ST360015A, NEC CD-RW NR-9300a,
Liteon DVD-Rom LTD163, 3.5" Format removeable media floppy.
Display: RADEON 9700 PRO, Amtran 17.7 monitor.
Multimedia: unimodem half duplex audio device ( i believe that this is the sound on my modem and is not the actual sound card, because my actual soundcard is pci sound blaster live i believe)
Comm: conextant smart HSRi V92 56k, speakerphone PCI modem/ Ras async adapter.

If you need any other information about anything you can E-mail me at [email protected] or reply on this site.

Thanx, sorry about the long post

I have discovered that i only encounter Vider errors when playing games. So i think it may be the driver i am downloading a new driver and unistalling the old one atm... My sound card is just being stupid... for some reason my comp doesnt even detect it really lol... but it is installed correctly... i dunno what the prob is there lol.

Here is the dell support page for your model You can download the drivers and install them to correct the ! problems in device manager. Be sure to read the instructions.

Here is the link for online support If you put your service tag number in, you will get a list of downloads specifically for your computer - rather than all the options on the previous link.

Hey buy_food for future reference the yellow exclamation marks in the device manager mean problems and almost always problems with drivers. If you follow Noo's link you can download all of the drivers from Dell's site and install them. Also make sure that under the display adapter in device manager it lists your video card not a standard display adapter. As to the games freezing up make sure you have a current version of Direct X running that you can find at Microsofts website under downloads.