Sound speakers not working

Usually when you plug in the wires for the sound speakers , they will automatically let you change the volume and settings. But when i reformated the whole computer , i realised that it says " There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devies , go to Control Panel , click Printers and Other Hardware , and then click Add Hardware." Which i did exaclty , and i went to the Add Hardware Wizard programme and they showed a sound symbol named " SiS 7018 Audio Driver" in the Installed hardware list . After that i click next and they said that This device cannot start (Code 10) and i closed the programme. Can you help me with this problem?

It turns out the problem for this error lies in the Windows Audio Service, which usually starts automatically when the sound card is installed and working. However, in this case the service was turned off. Follow the instructions below to reactivate the Windows Audio service.

1) Click on Start and Run

2) Type services.msc and press Enter

3) Scroll down to Windows Audio in the right-hand column and double-click on it, you should see a screen similar to this one.



4) Make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic and click on the Start button under Service Status. The Windows Audio service should restart and the error with the volume control should be resolved.

Well , i have followed the steps that you told me to do. But it appears that the Windows Audio Properties with the service status "Started" and the rest appears to be exactly the same as yours. Do you know what has happened to my computer?

Hmmm... Then it must the error “This device cannot start. Code 10″ (often followed by a driver identifier, for example “This device cannot start. Code 10 in audio driver”), here is what it means.

The Windows error “This device cannot start. Code 10″ or “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” is a hardware error that most commonly means that you have a bad, missing, or incompatible device driver. So, for example, “This device cannot start. Code 10 in audio driver” means that you have a bad or missing or incompatible driver for your sound card.

The technical explanation for this message, according to Microsoft, is this:

“If the device has a FailReasonString value in its hardware key, that string appears as the error message. The driver or enumerator puts this registry string value there. If there is no FailReasonString in the hardware key, you receive the following error message:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)”

What does that mean in plain English? It means that if the device which is throwing the error has added its own custom error text to your Windows system when the device was installed, then when the device encounters an error, you will see the custom error message specific to that device. But if it doesn’t have its own custom error message, then Windows uses its own generic error message for devices, which is “This device cannot start. (Code 10)”

Microsoft recommends that when this happens, you click “Update Driver” to update the drivers for the device. You can also start the Windows troubleshooting wizard by going to the general properties tab of the device, and clicking on “Troubleshoot”.

Before doing this, be sure that you have the correct and most up-to-date versions of the driver(s) for that device. You can also try uninstalling and reinstalling the device, using the disk which came with it.

Finally, you can go to the website of the device’s manufacturer, and check their downloads or support section for current, up-to-date drivers.

ohh ... but the thing is that i don't really remember having any disk for the sound speakers. I just change my old speakers a few years ago and bought the new one and just plug it in. But after reformating the computer , i realised that the sound doesn't work at all . And i started to see what i can do to make it work. But it got worse -.- ... So do you think if there is a way to make it work? Or reformating the computer will help this problem? By the way , windows xp home edition is it the same as windows xp professional?

Whats going on in 'Device Manager'?

Right click 'My Computer' / select properties and then device manager.
Expand 'Sound, video and game controllers' by clicking the plus sign next to it. Do you see any red question marks or yellow exclamation marks?

Note the sound driver version listed when you expand the tree in device manager and write it down somewhere.

Next, do as the Doc suggested and go directly to your sound card manufactures website and search for, and download the latest sound driver for your device and save it to your desktop.

Once this is completed now you need to remove the existing driver by finding it in device manager as before, right clicking it and select remove!

Double click the icon for your newly downloaded driver and follow the install instructions (or run the setup.exe from the compressed file).

Reboot your computer.

This will work for XP Home or Pro, it wont matter however make sure that you use the correct sound driver for your hardware device. If your unsure of the actual details you can use a freeware program like 'Everest' to identify it.
http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

I've followed these instructions twice, and each time an error alert would appear and my sound won't come on. In the corner of my screen where the little speaker is, there's a red x placed over it. So when I click on it to turn the sound on, nothing happens. So I right-clicked it. It says my Window Audio Service is not enabled. What do I do?