I get no sound at all from the speakers of my desktop PC. Dell Dimension B110.

Speakers are plugged in, turned on, cables connected, etc. The speakers do work, I plugged them into my iPod, no problems.

I went through all the control panel sound setting. Nothing is on mute, the volume is on high for everything.

I did winxp system restore to go back one week, didn't help.

Went through the entire Microsoft sound troubleshooter. Everything it had me check was fine.

I reinstalled my sound driver (Soundmax Integrated Digital Audio). No luck.

I do get an internal beep now that I didn't get before, for errors. The sound comes from the tower, not the speakers.

As some background, I installed Tunebite about a week ago and have been trying to use Tunebite to convert my ipod videos for Zune. I tried a few other programs that didn't work and I uninstalled them. Tunebite was working fine last night and I set some videos to convert overnight. This morning I synced them to the Zune. I didn't notice if I had sound or not this morning, as I was in a hurry, and didn't try to play anything. While I was at work, they system went into hibernation. When I got back on the computer, that's when the sound was gone.

I'm thinking that the fiddling around with settings in Tunebite, or one of the other programs I tried and uninstalled maybe caused my problem, which is why I mention this. Maybe some kind of codec problem. I've been using Tunebite for several days, and as I said, everything was working fine last night.

I am about to tear my hair out!!!

Did you try uninstalling tunebite?

Well, it went away when I went back a week with system restore.

It may have appeared to go away, but some files may still have remained. I would undo the restoration then uninstall any programs that were installed immediately before the issue happened.

in you control panel > sound and audio devices > audio tab

what is the default device for sound playback?

i'd also check the volume>advance settings and make sure you didn't enable digital output.

WOW, an example of system restore actually working. That is pretty amazing.

Well, I gave up and called a computer tech who lives in my subdivision. He charges $30 an hour plus parts... is that reasonable?

I'll let you know what the outcome was.

You could ask for referrals and call a couple of them for an opinion. The rate is fair, since a place like BB gets twice at least and do you want the Geek Squad. If your OS must be reloaded, ensure your copy is used or order replacement disks from MS.

Sounds very cheap to me for a housecall.

He picked up my computer this evening, and just called a bit ago. He got the sound back again, said it was corrupt drivers or something...said the total charge is $30 and he'll bring it back by tomorrow.



Next, I think maybe I'll order some more memory and have him put that in for me!

I found him on my subdivision's message board. It's nice to have my own Alan nearby.

Glad to hear the sound is back. Your PC might be pass the point of getting cheap memory. Quick look over at Newegg shows the cost of (2) 512 modules is around $62 with shipping. Still not a big reason to go with a new Vista PC, unless you want more headaches.

$62 is not too bad. He offered to order some online and install it for me because it costs too much locally, but I didn't want to be a week or so without the computer. So I might order it and have him install it at another time. Although I DID do it once myself...If I recall I think you all helped me with the instructions, but it was a LOOOOONG time ago.

I'm not at all afraid of software and computer settings, but I'm terrified at the thought of opening the tower and messing with the insides...

$30 for pickup & delivery & he fixed it too? Wow. I think you'll definitely use him again.

You got a GREAT deal on computer repair, and sounds like you found a good, honest, reasonably priced tech too!

$30 for a house call, pick up, fix, and drop off is incredibly cheap. Should have cost at least three times that much.

Be careful now. He may read Bargainshare.

YES!! YES!! I can hear you now!!!!

Brings this to mind (NSFW due to language)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2SkeGC-5gXQ

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kingston-Te...roductDetail.do

Circuit City had a 512MB module on sale this week for $24.99 without a rebate. Either buy at the store or get free shipping. I'm running a bottom dwelling Compaq with 768MB, including one of these module, and done alright on XP Home, so far.

Hey, that's a good deal! Is that exactly what I need for the Dimension B110?

(I'm pretty dumb about anything inside a computer)

Yes, that RAM should work fine in your B110. It uses standard DDR RAM, which looks to be what kas linked.

EDIT:

removing the cover - B110
installing RAM - B110
replacing the cover - B110

(just in case)

Thanks! I ordered the memory!

I'll read those instructions too...

Hmmm, should I have ordered two? I just read this:

"If possible, do not pair an original memory module with a new memory module. Otherwise, your computer may not function at optimal performance."

If you had built a machine for on-line game playing or to bring to a party, it would be important. Which ever Chinese company built the PC for Dell probably use the cheapest module at the time. I upgraded my Compaq with the same "generic" memory and HP pushed the same crap to all pf us who has purchased that cheap PC at the time. I'm yet to have a problem going 2 years.

If you were to work with MS Office or other software programs with large files, than going (2) 512MB modules or even a 1G module would make sense.

Nah, you should be fine.

These machines supported something known as "dual-channel memory". If you put matching pairs of memory into the machine, it would be able to run the memory a little bit faster than normal. It's not really a noticeable difference, and I would always choose adding more memory instead of worrying about adding matching memory.

doesn't the memory have to match? I opened the case and found two slots, both with 256mb installed.

So I closed it back up. I need two 512's don't I? I only ordered one.

If you want 1GB and only have two slots, then yes, you would need to 512MB sticks. However, there is nothing that would prevent you from running with 768MB of RAM (1x256, 1x512).

thanks, I'll do that for now. I was somehow under the impression that they had to match.

OK, I put the 512 in, and am now up to 768.

That was the easiest thing ever!