Expert: Tom Guertin - 6/28/2009

Question
QUESTION: We have a Canon camcorder, and a while back, when I plugged it into my computer with a firewire cable, my sound went out, but I didn't think the two were related.  Since then, I have had my computer in for repair/virus removal two times, and I also rebooted windows using HP recovery discs (it's an HP Pavilion a630n) about 3-4 months ago.  The sound came back after the first time it was in for repair and has worked since then, until I plugged my camera into the computer again.  Does this make any sense?  Or is it just a strange coincidence?  Since the sound went out again, I have gone to the HP website to update any drivers I may have forgotten about when I reinstalled everything, and I scanned for viruses, etc. (use AVG Free, and Ad-Aware) but have not found anything.  What am I missing here?  Please help!

ANSWER: Robin,

My guess is when you plug the camcorder in, the system installs drivers for it, and that changes or corrupts your audio drivers.

Here is your system's audio drivers:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-29786-2

You probably received a CD with your camcorder.  If not, or you don't know where it is, look for it's drivers on the Canon website.  Download them both and place them in C:\Drivers for future reference.  It may be the fact that when the system install drivers for the Canon camcorder it's installing the wrong ones which interfere with your HP audio drivers.

Now, install the HP drivers and verify the audio works.  Next install the Canon drivers and verify the audio still works.  If so, then plug in your camcorder and see if that audio works.

I hope this helps!  Let me know...

Tom

P.S.  When you use the HP system recovery disks, you should format the drive and all your drivers should work afterwards...  System recovery, recovers your system to what it had when it was new, and your audio worked when new.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I reinstalled the audio driver, and then found the disc for the camcorder, and reinstalled that, but the sound still doesn't work.  I must have missed a step?

ANSWER: Robin,

Did you try the audio before messing with the camcorder?  I'm wondering if the camcorder software messed everything up, or it didn't work after the audio driver.

Let me know...

Tom

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I guess I can't remember what order I did it in.  Sorry.  Is there anything I can do now without having to do something drastic like reboot my system again?  Please give me step by step instructions with what order to do things in so I do them correctly.  :)  Is there any sort of scan I can do to tell me if something is corrupt?  Thanks so much for your continued help!

Answer
Robin,

First some clarification:  reboot is when you have your system turn off and on automatically.  Rebuild is when you use recovery CD's or a Windows XP CD to build a system from scratch.

After a rebuild you need to check that all your driver issues has been resolved:

Checking Drivers

Right click “My Computer”, pull down and click Properties
Click the Hardware TAB
Click the “Device Manager” button
Look for any yellow ‘!’ or ‘?’, they denote a driver issue

Any yellow character is an unresolved driver and it needs to be resolved.  You should always install all the latest drivers and system software:

Downloading Drivers

Go to your system manufacturer’s website, Compaq.com, Dell.com, HP.com, IBM/Lenovo.com, etc…
Click Support and look for Downloads or Drivers
Enter your system information and OS
Download the latest drivers
Note: Some of these sites keep a physical list so you may need to sort by Newest First and then keep track of the drivers you download.  This is because they may have updated video drivers 3 times and you just want the latest.

Once all your drivers are at their latest, check to make sure your audio works.  Play music or watch a DVD to be sure.  I believe it will work fine.

Now, install the latest camcorder software.  Go to their website and see if they have any newer downloads.  Use that software over your CD which has already failed you.  Once that is installed, check your audio.  If it doesn't work after the camcorder installation, you need to work with Canon support to resolve this issue.  It's their product that messing everything up.

I hope this helps!  Let me know...

Tom