Windows 7 Prevents recording and New Drivers do not help

I had to reinstall Windows 7 Pro, 64 Bit and my onboard sound card will no longer record using any internal or external inputs.

ASUS on board (newest) drivers did not help. Other Sound Blaster cards are having the same problem and some have found that only PCIE versions of their preferred cards work. The high end high priced versions of course !

Drivers from the chip makers do not work and they say, if it is on the mother board to only use drivers from the manufacturer. Disclaimer says that Mother Board manufacturers often modify the drivers.

Microsoft (Paid support) worked for over 7 hours trying to get it going and in the end it did not help !

VIA, However all of the suggested fixes have been tried. Microsoft (Paid support) could not fix the problem, that is after taking control of my computer for over 7 hours . They tried drivers from the Chip mfg. and from places I did not recognize. The drivers were worse than before. Only the drivers from the Motherboard maker do a half way job. They do not yet provide any recording ability nor the ability to use a microphone. Microsoft drivers are from the Chip makers. These makers say to use the drivers from the Mother Board makers as they modify them to work with their products.

Other people on the internet have mentioned, M-audio and sound blaster cards having the same problems. Even Microsoft's sound recorder ( that comes with windows) does not work.

I need this option for Dragon Naturally Speaking due to my disabilities. I contacted one of the above makers of sound cards and they mentioned only one of their cards that would work. At close to $250.00 this seems a little excessive.