Installing a Sound Card in Windows 95

Before Installing the Sound Card

Some sound cards are configured with switches or jumpers on the card while other sound cards are configured using a software program which is included with the sound card. Configuring the sound card resources may be necessary for non-Plug and Play sound cards. Refer to the sound card user's guide for this information. Make sure that the settings chosen for the sound card do not conflict with other devices on the system. For more information on which resources are currently being used by the system, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog should now display.

3. Click the Device Manager tab. Double-click the Computer icon at the top of the device list.

4. The Computer Properties dialog is displayed. Click the Interrupt request (IRQ) radio button. All IRQs currently in use are now displayed in the list.

   Note: Because IRQ 2 cascades to IRQ 9, only one of these IRQs can be used by a device. If you have a Pentium or PCI-based system, IRQ 9 is probably being used by the Plug and Play BIOS.

5. Click the Input/output (I/O) radio button to see a list of I/O ports currently in use.

6. Click the Direct memory access (DMA) radio button to see a list of DMA channels currently in use.

If the sound card's resources are set to any of the values displayed in these lists, the resources need to be changed in order to prevent a conflict.

Installing the Sound Card Driver for Windows 95

After physically installing the sound card, start the computer.

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon.

3. The Add New Hardware Wizard appears. Click Next.

4. Click Yes (Recommended), then click Next.

5. Click Next.

   Windows 95 may warn that the system is using HIGHSCAN with EMM386.EXE. If this message appears, there is an option to follow the instructions given in order to remove HIGHSCAN. To continue past this message and proceed with hardware detection, click OK.

6. When Windows 95 is finished detecting, click Finish.

   If Windows 95 asks to restart the computer, click Yes. The computer restarts.

NOTE: If Windows 95 did not find any hardware devices, click Cancel and continue the steps in the following section.

If Windows 95 did not install sound card drivers, continue the steps in the following section.

Manually Installing a Sound Card Driver

To manually install a sound card driver in Windows 95:

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon.

3. The Add New Hardware Wizard appears. Click Next.

4. Click No. Click Next.

5. From the list, click Sound, video and game controllers. Click Next.

6. Select a manufacturer and model from the lists. Click Next.

7. The Wizard displays the settings for the sound card driver being installing. These resources cannot be edited at this time. If the resources listed do not match the resources of the sound card, edit them after the Wizard is finished. Click Next. On the next screen click Finish.

8. Windows ask if you wish to shut down your computer. If the sound card resources need to be edited click No. Otherwise click Yes.

To edit the resources follow the steps in the next section. If the resources do not need to be edited, skip the next section.

If the manufacturer and/or model are not listed for the specific sound card being installed, and if Windows 95 cannot detect the card, the Windows 3.x drivers may need to be used or check elsewhere for the availability of Windows 95 drivers for this particular card.

Editing Sound Card Resources

1. Click Start, click Settings, then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog is displayed.

3. Click the Device Manager tab.

4. Double-click the Sound, video and game controller icon. This expands the section to list the sound card drivers currently installed. Double-click the driver installed for the sound card.

5. The Properties dialog is now displayed. Click the Resources tab.

6. If the Use automatic settings box is checked, click on it to uncheck it. Then look at the list of Resource types. Double-click the resource that needs to be changed and set its value.

   NOTE: If the selection results in a conflict, Windows informs and give you the option to change the setting to another value.

7. Click OK when finished. When you have finished editing the resources, click OK and exit the Device Manager by clicking OK again.

8. Windows will alert that a system setting has changed. Click Yes to shut down the computer.

Sound Card Troubleshooting

If you do not hear sound, check the following:

• Make sure that speakers are properly connected, powered, and set to a midrange v by default volume.

• On the right hand side of the Start menu bar (displayed at the bottom of the screen by default), a small, yellow speaker icon is displayed next to the current time. If this speaker icon is not present, sound card drivers may not be installed or may be conflicting with another device.

• Double-click on the speaker icon to display the volume controls. Make sure that the leftmost volume control is set to a midrange setting or higher. Make sure that the volume controls associated with Wave and MIDI channels are set at or close to the tops of the sliders.

• See the section "Editing Sound Card Resources" to discover if a device conflict is preventing the sound card driver from activating.

To test the playing of Wave files in Windows 95:

1. Click Start, click Find, then click Files or folders.

2. Double-click the Sounds icon. The Sounds Properties dialog is displayed.

3. Type *.WAV
   and click Find Now.

   NOTE: If no files are found, then there are no files of this type on the search drive. If this is the case, you may not have any Wave files for Windows 95 to play.

4. Double-click on the icon for one of the files displayed at the bottom of the Find dialog. The Sound Recorder appears and the file is played; after which, Sound Recorder closes.

To test the playing of MIDI files in Windows 95:

1. Click Start, click Find, then click Files or folders.

2. Double-click the Sounds icon. The Sounds Properties dialog should now display.

3. Type *.MID

   and click Find Now.

   NOTE: If no files are found, then there are no files of this type on the search drive. If this is the case, there may be no MIDI files present for Windows 95 to play.

4. Double-click on the icon for one of the files displayed at the bottom of the Find dialog. Media Player appears and the file plays; after which, Media Player closes.

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