A+ Complete Lab Manual

This lab introduces the process of installing a sound card in a computer with a Windows 9x operating system. Sound cards tend to be difficult to configure because they often produce resource conflicts with other hardware devices. Many of the sound cards available today are Plug-and-Play. When these cards are installed in a Windows 9x system, they are automatically configured and set up with the appropriate resources. When Plug-and-Play fails to properly configure the computer, you may need to manually assign resources and manually install drivers. This procedure can be adapted to the installation of other hardware items.

Upon completion of this lab, you will be able to install a sound card in a Windows 9x computer.

Set Up

For this exercise, you will need:

Exercise

Because the normal installation process often fails to work, both the normal installation process and the manual installation process for installing a sound card are shown in this lab.

Installing the Sound Card

To install the sound card, follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect all external cables from the computer and remove the computer cover.

  2. Find an open expansion slot and insert the sound card into the space.

  3. Attach the sound cable to the CD audio connector on the sound card and to the CD-ROM drive.

    Tip

    Do not move the CD-ROM data cable to the sound card if it has a CD-ROM drive interface. If you do, the master/slave status of both the hard drive and the CD-ROM drive will change.

  4. Install the speakers on the audio out port on the back of the sound card.

  5. Reconnect the external cables and boot the computer. If Windows 9x correctly identifies the sound card, it will install the appropriate drivers. Windows may ask for the installation CD-ROM during this process so the appropriate driver can be loaded. After the computer has reached the Windows Desktop, you should hear the Windows Startup sound.

  6. Follow this sequence to test the sound card after the computer has booted:

    Start Settings Control Panel Sounds

  7. From the section of the window labeled Events, choose an event with a yellow speaker beside it. Highlight the event.

  8. Below, next to Preview, select the arrow to test for sound. If the installation was a success, you should hear the sound.

  9. If you don’t hear a sound, verify that Windows Default is selected in Schemes.

  10. If Windows did not find the new hardware, use the Add New Hardware Wizard to install the hardware item.

  11. Close all programs.

  12. Use the following sequence, and accept the defaults:

    Start Settings Control Panel Add New Hardware

  13. Reboot. The new hardware should be operational. Follow the instructions in steps 3 and 4 to test the sound card.

If the computer incorrectly identified the sound card or there is a conflict with other hardware, you’ll see yellow question marks (?) or red exclamation marks (!) in Device Manager. These conflict indicators appear in the Sound, Video, and Game Controller area and/or in the Other Devices area of Device Manager. Sometimes, yellow question marks (?) appear on items that appear to be functioning normally. All conflict indicators that refer to the sound card must be removed before you can use another method to install the sound card:

  1. Boot to Normal or Safe mode and use the following sequence to display Device Manager:

    Start Settings Control Panel System Device Manager

  2. If you see yellow question marks or red exclamation marks in front of the Sound, Video, and Game Controller and/or Other Device entries in Device Manager, use the following steps to remove the entries.

  3. Click the plus sign (+) next to the item that has a question mark or exclamation mark to expand that item.

  4. Click to highlight a reference to the sound card or joystick ports in these expanded folders, and then click Remove. Repeat this process for each entry.

  5. Click OK to close this window after you are finished.

  6. Use the manual procedure to install the sound card.

Manually Installing a Sound Card

  1. Boot the computer to the Desktop and follow this sequence:

    Start Settings Control Panel Add New Hardware

  2. Click Next.

  3. When you see the prompt Do you want Windows to search for your new hardware?, choose No.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Choose Sound, Video, and Game Controllers.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Click Have Disk.

  8. Insert the sound card driver disk.

  9. Choose your sound card from the menu and follow the prompts. You may need to use the Windows installation CD during the process.

  10. If you are prompted for the pathname in the Copying Files window, enter

    D:\WIN98

    where D: represents the CD-ROM drive letter.

  11. Boot the computer. At the Windows Desktop, you should hear the startup sound. If the sound does not play, follow this sequence to test the sound:

    Start Settings Control Panel Sounds

  12. From the section of the window labeled Events, choose an event with a yellow speaker beside it. Highlight the event.

  13. Below, next to Preview, select the arrow to test for sound. If the installation was a success, you should hear the sound.

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