DenJFast

Worked with PCs and Macs since early 90's. Never needed to restore so it was turned off.

Just removed all applications that use sound, removed RealTek, re-installed RealTek. Still no sound. (no Win sound as it loads) Checked connections, all live. Next will try WinXP Repair. Prob is, my copy is pre-sp1, so it may not work. I know I can do a clean install, then add sp2 and sp3, but that means reformat and reinstall all applications. Probably I will go purchase a sound card instead.

Here is what I have done.
==============================
reinstall your motherboard chipset.
nVidia Chipset Driver 8.26 for Windows XP

Follow these steps all the way through;
1) Uninstall the Realtek software through Add/Remove Programs (if it's installed but not working)
2) In Device Manager, remove the High Definition audio device under Sound, Video & Game controllers.
3) Still in Device Manager, double-click Legacy Audio Drivers.
4) Click on the Properties tab.
5) Select all sound devices listed here (There are NONE!) and click the Remove button. (Do not remove Legacy or Codecs)

Uninstall the Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio. (It's a good possibility that is your unknown device) When you do this, you should be able to install the Realtek drivers.
Go into Device Manager, under the System folder, right click the UAA Hi-Def Bus driver.
Disable the device and then uninstall it. (Do not re-boot yet)

KB888111
If you install, remove, and then re-install this update, the update is no longer listed in Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. Therefore, you cannot remove this update from your computer. To work around this problem, follow these steps.
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SP3\KB888111
3. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
4. Click Yes, and then exit Registry Editor.

Run CCleaner and Max Registry Cleaner.

Install your audiodriver, then do a complete shut down and re-boot.
Realtek ALC883 Audio Driver WHQL V5.10.0.5324 for XP
======================================================
Make sure the Windows Audio service is running.
Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services
Scroll down the list of services until you find the Windows Audio service.
Right click on it and choose Properties.
Make sure it is set to Automatic and Start is checked
==========================================================
Here is another possibility. Work through these steps carefully.

Scenario One
1. You DO have "Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator" listed under System Devices

Carry out the following steps;
* Copy C:\WINDOWS\inf\machine.inf to a temporary location
* Edit your copy of machine.inf in Notepad
* Remove line 20 (ExcludeFromSelect=*)
* Right-click “Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator” and click “Update Driver”
* Choose “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” and click Next
* Choose “Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install” and click Next
* Click “Have Disk”
* Browse to the location of your copy of machine.inf and click OK
* Select “Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator” and click Next
* Wait for the software to install then click Finish