Frequently Asked Questions

This problem is often caused by outdated sound drivers, or sound cards that are not Sound Blaster Compatible. Here's how you can find out if you have one of the sound chipsets affected by this problem:

1) Click the START button on the lower-left corner of your screen.
2) Click "Run..." on the menu that pops up.
3) In the "Open:" text field, type dxdiag and click the OK button or press ENTER.
4) Wait a few moments. The DirectX Diagnostic Tool will pop up. It may request permission from you before running some tests; allow it to do whatever it wants.
5) Click the "Sound" tab near the top of the window. If there is more than one, you will have to do this for each of them.
6) If the "Name:" field in the "Device" section on the "Sound" page says either "Realtek AC97 Audio" or "VIA Audio (WAVE)" your computer may be affected by this problem, and you will need to update your audio drivers. This can be accomplished as follows:

Realtek AC97 Audio
- Go to www.realtek.com and download the drivers appropriate for your operating system.

VIA Audio (WAVE)
Please contact your computer's manufacturer to determine the model number of your motherboard. Once you have that information, you can download a new driver from this page:
www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2

Your computer's manufacturer may also be able to assist you directly with the audio driver update process.