I have the same problem that you are describing. my comp. old but the everything else works. i'm not really comp. savy and don't have any software or anything that came w/ it b/c its my parents old one.
i tried doing the control panel thing and it said "no audio device". my speakers are plugged in correctly (the colors match up). i also tried the 'run' and 'test direct sound'. here it says there is a failure at step three (DirectSoundCreate). i have no idea what this means and i hoping you could help. i'd really love to listen to my music when I'm studying!! :) thanks.
Bridget
June 2008