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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

computer-adviser.com want to know how to install sound card , get a free download sound card driver from www.driverguide.com , need a hand adding a sound card to a computer , definition of a sound card

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