Thanks for the suggestions. I was able to do a system restore back to
a date when audio from both the speakers and a USB headset was
working, with the onboard audio, but this did not fix the problem.
When I disabled the onboard audio, the USB sound worked. With the
onboard audio enabled, neither the speakers nor the USB sound worked.
If I leave the sound card out, I can get the USB headset to work. If I
put the sound card in, I can get the speakers to work, but not the USB
device. I will play around some more, but that is where I am so far.
Thanks again, Richard
On Fri, 9 May 2008 15:17:08 -0400, "Christopher Muto"
<muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>you didn't mention the time table of all of this, or if some event preceded
>the failure of the integrated sounds card. if the integrated sound card
>stopped working then i would have simply done a windows system restore to an
>earlier point in time to when the sound was working. if it is not too late
>(depending on how far back your windows system restore points are kept) you
>can still do this - uninstall the add on audio card, enable the integrated
>audio in the bios, start windows and select
>start-allprograms-acessories-systemtools-systemrestore. then if that
>doesn't work i would delete the sigmatel audio from the device manager,
>download the latest sigmatel driver found on support.dell.com for your
>machine, restart, and then install the new driver when prompted.
>
>"richards" <richard@rhspencer.com> wrote in message
>news:gs49249nhvvigpj0co9k8os5330haik7f5@4ax.com.. .
>> Good point. All I did to trouble shoot the integrated audio was check
>> it out in Device Manager, where it showed up under Sound, video and
>> game controllers as Sigma Tel High Definition Audio Codec, "this
>> device is working properly" (but of course it wasn't). That entry is
>> no longer present (presumably because I disabled the onboard audio in
>> the BIOS before installing the sound card?).
>> Suggestions for next steps would be welcome.
>> Richard
>>
>> On Fri, 9 May 2008 12:40:00 -0400, "Christopher Muto"
>> <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>
>>>it sounds like the integrated audio installtion became currupt for some
>>>reason and that in turn lead to the usb headset to stop working. and
>>>despite the new audio card the usb headset it probably still playing, or
>>>rather not playing, sounds produced by the integrated audio. i think
>>>things
>>>would be simpler if you just used the integrated audio. what steps did
>>>you
>>>try to troubleshoot the integrated audio before you introduced the add on
>>>sound card?
>>>
>>>"richards" <richard@rhspencer.com> wrote in message
>>>news:5dl824thduh81emtvpvq83qkc4jkvktgka@4ax.com ...
>>>>I have a Dell Dimension 4500 running Windows XP, which had integrated
>>>> sound on the mother board. Audio from both the audio jacks and the USB
>>>> ports stopped working. I have installed a low end sound card, which
>>>> works fine, but (and perhaps this is no surprise to those who
>>>> understand these things!) there is no audio on my USB headset. (The
>>>> mic works fine.) In fact, selecting the USB headset as the audio
>>>> device in Sounds and Audio Device Properties or Skype does not disable
>>>> the audio from the sound card.
>>>> Is there any way I can restore audio to the USB ports?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks, Richard
>>>
>