Set-up and speaker help

[bluesntwos]

Hi all,

I'm brand new here so be gentle!!! My Dad has just bought a new computer from Dell and asked me to go round and help him set it up. I know a little bit more than him about computers and we just about got everything working except for the speakers!

Firstly, he purchased the integrated Sound Blaster Audigy for an extra £10. Has he wasted his money or is it worth having?

Secondly, he also bought some Dell A525 speakers and subwoofer. We initially plugged the green jack into the black socket as it recommended this if you have a soundcard. No sound. We also tried it in the green socket, again no sound. However, there is a CD with Sound Blaster on it which has an activation code on the reverse of the sleeve. Does this need to be run before we will get sound?

Thanks

 

[PC eye]

You forgot to install the software and drivers for the installed sound card. oops! That will do for a start.

The green or #1 audio jack would be correct for front speakers of a 5.1 or 7.1 set or simply a pair with a woofer generally referred to as 2 1/2 speakers. The idea of using an Audigy over onboard especially on a Dell was a good idea. The Dell speakers may be lacking however if you plan on gaming or a lot of multimedia playback.

First toss the software disk in for the sound card to see that taken care of. Is that XP or more likely Vista as the version of Windows there? If XP try to avoid allowing the automatic updater seen during the installation to automatically look for updates. That may grab Vista drivers while you are running XP.

Updates for the card along with others will be available at Dell's support site and if you know the model card like Audigy 2 or 4 the Creative Labs own support site. With a newer model Dell will have those readily available however.

 

[Droogie]

You need to install the drivers for the sound card in order for it work properly. You'll need to find the card on Audigy's site or wherever, and download and install the drivers. The card probably came with drivers (on the CD you were talking about), but the ones on the internet are probably more up to date. Lemme know if this helps.