How to install sound card
article
Adding a sound card to a computer
How to install
sound card article - When adding a sound card to a computer
it’s best to get everything ready before actually installing the
card.
- A Phillips
screwdriver preferably magnetized “ this helps to stop any
screws falling into the pc and onto your motherboard, if
they do it’s very easy to retrieve them.
- A flat blade screwdriver medium size .
- The driver CD .
The Installation
The first thing is to
make sure you’ve earthed yourself, this can easily be done in a
number of ways.
Read our basic guide here for more
information.
Make sure your pc has the power cable or cord removed. Most
computers today will still have current passing through the
motherboard even though they are switched off , so this is
important.
Remove the cover or case of the computer and find a free
compatible slot.
Depending on the
Sound card you have it will either be a PCI or maybe an ISA card
if it’s an older style of card.
Once you’ve chosen
the slot the sound card’s going into, use the Phillips
screwdriver to remove the screw and then corresponding metal
blanking plate.
If the blanking plate
is still fixed to the case use the flat bladed screw driver to
break the connection. You should only have to break the
connection on one side and then move the plate in an in and out
motion it will come out.
how to install
sound card article Make sure your earthed especially if you’ve
left the computer at any time since beginning since you
originally earthed yourself .
Checkout our guide if
your not sure how to do this.
Next remove the sound card from its protective packaging. Try to
handle the card by the edges and not put fingers on the
components.
Gently ease the card
into the slot. Try not to put to much pressure on it , sometimes
they can be a little bit stubborn, but too much pressure could
damage the card or worse the motherboard.
how to install sound card article Once the sound card is fitted
it’s edge connector should hardly be visible if at all.
Now use the Phillips screwdriver and put the screw back in that was
retrieved when you removed the original blanking plate.
The next step is to
install the audio cable that came with the cable. This should be
a long thin cable.
It will connect from
the sound card to the CD or DVD drive it will be fairly obvious
where this goes, it may even say CD on the sound card.
On the CD or DVD drive it should be next to the drives data
or power cable.
The cable enables you to hear audio CD’s through the sound
card instead of plugging your speakers into the front of the CD
/ DVD Drive .
how to install sound card article
Once you’re happy you’ve got everything installed put the
case cover back on, plug it back in and power on the computer.
If you are using any Windows XP, 2000, ME or 98 it will
automatically recognize some new hardware have been installed,
then you’ll be prompted for the driver installation disk or CD.
If you are using Windows NT unfortunately its not an
operating system that recognizes plug and play so you’ll have to
run an install program from the Drivers CD.
Troubleshooting
If you find that the sound card is not working it could be a
number of reasons, usually these are easy to fix.The first
thing to look into is have the speakers or headphones been
plugged into the right output on the sound card?
Is the volume level sufficient enough to actually hear
anything?
This can be checked by just going to control panel and “ type
Control from the start menu” select sound and audio devices.
Under volume is this at it lowest ? , can you increase it .
If you find it’s greyed out this means that incorrect drivers
have been installed or have yet to be installed.
Sometimes a simple re-boot will fix this.
If the card still does not work the next step is to
re-install the drivers.
Once again go to control panel and this time select “ System
“ now select “ Hardware “ and “ Device manager “ from here you
should be able to see a “ sound video game controllers “ option
, here you will see your sound card , right click on it and you
will see a small menu, from here select “ uninstall “ .
Now you can start the install procedure again.
It’s worth noting that sometimes downloading a newer version
of a driver from the manufacturer’s website may fix the problem.
Free download sound card driver
how to install sound card article
If your looking to upgrade your sound
card, checkout our buyers guide so you can find a card that’s
right for you and your system
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