how do i re install audio drivers?

Hi again, just thought of an addendum.

If the "New Hardware Wizard" doesn't pop-up automatically having restarted, you can run it manually. It's listed in the Windows "Control Panel" accessed with the Start menu, under Settings.

HTH

Regards

SS
November 2007

Hi again, just thought of an addendum.

If the "New Hardware Wizard" does pop-up automatically having restarted, you can run it manually. It's listed in the Windows "Control Panel" accessed with the Start menu, under Settings.

HTH

Regards

SS
November 2007

Hi

It's not clear from your question:
1. What the PC's current circumstance is?
2. How it got like that?

So, I'm going to guess you've done a clean install of a Windows operating system, using a "vanilla" CDROM rather than a special Sony one. "Vanilla Windows" means using a general standard-issue Microsoft Windows CDROM to install from rather one from your PC's specific manufacturer.

The official Sony website URL to download "Support files" for Vaio PCs is below. Have a rummage around that site and decide what you might want. Create a New Folder on the Desktop for each different type of driver you download e.g. sound, video, modem. If the files are ZIP archives, extract the constituent files into the same folder as the ZIP archive containing them. You'll need the unzipped files available to do any driver installations. (Use the WinZip program to unzip ZIP files - it's often on magazine cover discs).

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/submenu/downloads.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons

When you're ready to install a driver, don't have any applications/programs running. Get to the Desktop i.e. have your wallpaper/background visible on the screen. The first stage is remove any incorrect/corrupted/broken drivers for the devices that you're going to install replacements for.

Right-click "My Computer", click "Properties". On the "System Properties" box, click the "Device Manager" tab. Here you see a list of the CATEGORIES of all the component devices in your PC. Double-click the categories (as you would a folder in Windows Explorer) to "expand the tree" to show the individual devcies. The devices that you would fiddle with generally have sensible names:

Display Adapter AKA Video card (drives the screen)
Imaging Device AKA Flatbed Scanner

On my (desktop) PC the audio card is listed under "Multi-function adapters" as a "Multi-media device".

Find the entries for all the devices whose drivers you're going to renew or add. Right-click the relevant device and click "Remove". Click "OK" to confirm. If there is no entry, no matter. When you've removed all the entries for the non-working devices, restart the PC.

When Windows restarts, it should invoke the "New Hardware Wizard" automatically. If it finds hardware for which "vanilla" Windows does have a driver, it'll find it itself. If you're asked to confirm it's choice of best driver then accept it.

If, as you've suggested, Windows doesn't include the drivers you need to install, you'll be asked where Windows should search for a driver. Uncheck all the possible places: CDROM, Floppy Disc etc except the (last) one, where you specify a location using a drop-down box. For each driver you need to install, tell Windows to look in the relevantly-named folder on the Desktop, which you earlier downloaded/extracted/unzipped the files into.

By pointing Windows at the correct folder, it should latch onto the driver file within it. You can then accept it's proposal to install the driver.

It's best practice (and more likely to be successful) if you restart the PC after the "New Hardware Wizard" has completed its jobs and the PC has "settled" at your desktop/wallpaper.

HTH

Regards

SS
November 2007

Try www.sony.com

t
November 2007