Windows 7 upgrade,Now sound card not working

kingkenny1953 · 04 Dec 2012

Hi to all
I have just got my tower back after my son upgraded me to windows 7-32 and just linked my speakers into the system and my sound card is not working,It is a Hercules muse XL
MPN LWHA521-t9,A bit old but it also allows my disabled son to use the microsoft sidewinder wheel for his games,I have looked in the DxDiag and card is not showing,So I obviously need a driver compatible with windows 7,After looking on various sites and always ending up with Babylon toolbars after declining the download I have turn to you guru's here,So any suggestions would be very grateful
Dave.

fireberd · 04 Dec 2012

Older sound cards, that worked OK in Windows XP can be a problem in Vista/Win7/Win 8 as the XP drivers are not compatible. Some sound functions are handled differently and require Vista/Win7 specific drivers. Many older devices are not compatible (hardware and/or internal firmware) and thus a prime reason no compatible drivers are available.

Unfortunately, if you can't find any drivers, you will have to replace the sound card with a Win 7 compatible device. Same way with a new, compatible, USB connected gaming controller. The trials and tribulations of upgrading older hardware to new OS systems that are designed primarily for newer hardware.

If this is a game port joystick you may be able to use a USB/game port adapter but there are no guarantees with these - some devices work satisfactorily and some do not. That would probably less costly than replacing the sidewinder wheel.

Indianatone · 04 Dec 2012

I did some research on the card and it uses a really popular audio chip so we can go right to the horses mouth for some real legit drivers :
C-Media Electronics, Inc.

If you look at your card on the audio chip you should see CM18738/PCI-SX.
A large amount of cards with "no drivers" can be traced back to the chip supplier and drivers can be downloaded from them without worrying about being scammed. You will need to set up and account, use your email and a password and then you can download. This is a reputable company that makes electronic parts and drivers.
I downloaded and attached the drivers to this post as I though it might be handy for me to have a copy of those drivers for future use. Let us know how you get on.
Tony.

kingkenny1953 · 05 Dec 2012

Gentlemen,I am in your debt,The driver from C-Media has done the job,I now have one very happy son:),There seems to be no conflict on the system as yet (fingers crossed),One again many thanks.
Dave.

Indianatone · 05 Dec 2012

Glad to help Dave.
Tony

kingkenny1953 · 06 Dec 2012

Alas it didn't last for long,Turned computer on this morning and nothing was working on the sound card,It was showing in device manager,So shut down,removed new hard drive,replaced with the old drive which has XP OS on it and fired up and every thing was hunky dory,So I was wondering if I can use 2 hard drives with 2 different systems,My son's Dell dimension has 2 HDD caddies and CD/DVD is on sata,The only problem I can see is having to turn off computer every time you want to change OS,I assume this is possible.

fireberd · 11 Dec 2012

You can set up a "dual boot" with both hard drives connected and you select which one you want when you boot up.

EasyBCD EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies is a program that will setup dual boot.

Indianatone · 11 Dec 2012

kingkenny1953 said:

Alas it didn't last for long,Turned computer on this morning and nothing was working on the sound card,It was showing in device manager,So shut down,removed new hard drive,replaced with the old drive which has XP OS on it and fired up and every thing was hunky dory,So I was wondering if I can use 2 hard drives with 2 different systems,My son's Dell dimension has 2 HDD caddies and CD/DVD is on sata,The only problem I can see is having to turn off computer every time you want to change OS,I assume this is possible.

Just a thought, when you installed the driver did you right click on the set up .exe and run it as administrator?
While you are in the computer please verify the model of the audio chip is CM18738/PCI-SX. There are other versions of the chip with different drivers.