Technical question

gk,

You state, "My sound suddenly stopped for my computer when I'm streaming video. This is especially annoying whim using YouTube or my favorite porn video site." Does this mean it is intermittent or it stopped and never returned? That makes a big difference as to a likely cause.

You can try the Windows "help" guide, but it is usually pretty worthless. But maybe it will get you to the problem if it is in the driver area or something like that. If you are not somewhat computer savvy, it could get difficult to locate your problem.

I've had this happen on my (old, slow) computer, but restarting usually fixes it. If rebooting doesn't work, then I'm no help.

I've had it where the sound was not in sync with the streaming video before and there are those videos which have no sound whatsoever. You might also want to check the Adobe Flashplayer website to make sure you have the most current version of Flashplayer. Other than that, did you check if the mute was on the player.

The 3 Rs of windows tech support: Reboot, Reformat, Reinstall

Sorry I can't help you in a specific way...good luck!

Your audio device driver may have gotten corrupted. How to troubleshoot this depends on the version of Windows you're running. Here is a link to the Microsoft Support site with instructions for XP.

www.microsoft.com

If you're using Vista, search on the Microsoft site.

Good luck

First and foremost before you do anything the others mention, other than a reboot, define your true problem. A solid condition will be handled differently than an intermittent condition. That is if there is a competent person dealing with the condition.

I always ask people working at Best Buy. Some of their sales help are pretty knowledgeable.

ttf,

Good idea, as long as one can tell the good from the bad.

I dislike the microsoft site...I find out my answers to windows and office questions easier just using google

samsung1,

I agree. I was speaking of the offline "help" guide. It is not likely to allow a user to totally F*** Up their computer, however the web based info could do just that.

I hope gk lets us know what he finds.

gk, got one thing right. Windows help is useless. I am a computer NERD. My son is an expert. He built my computer. He is a LAN administrator in charge of security for a Fortune 500 company. HE gets so pissed at me every time I call him for help for things that are just second nature to him.He can even access my computer from his apartment 60 miles away. That always blows my mind.

Give me a break about Best Buy ---get your help from a local independent computer guru - not some idiot who has the goal of selling you a new computer. I guarantee that the local independent computer store tech support will save you a whole lot of money that you can spend at your favorite local strip club ---remember you need to support your local stripper

Still have a problem? I once had this problem and had some conflict with another program using my sound files so no sound. It's possible it was just corrupted. I don't remember anymore how I fixed it. It's possible I went to the remove programs section under the control panel and then added back what I needed. However I don't know what your problem is so this is only a guess at best. Something else I've done on occasion is to load another sound reading program such as ReadPlease that is a text to software program and sometimes the sound will activate when that program runs and then youtube sound is suddenly back. I'm not sure where I occasionally get the conflicts on my system but they seem to be better now. Actually I believe a web site I once visited messed up my settings.

It'w a constant problem.

Rebooting doesn't solve anything.

As far as I can tell, there is no problem with the sound card, but then, how do you tell if it's corrupted?

I'll updating my streaming video drivers, maybe that will help.

If not, then I'm calling somebody; first I'll try the Dell help desk, then go local. Thanks, everybody.

gk,

A bit of clarification...

A "constant" problem could mean that it drops out constantly, which would make it still an intermittent. Does it ever work at present, and if so what are the conditions at that time. Example: Every Youtube starts with sound, but stops during the playback.