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How to identify a sound card under windows XP?

How to identify a sound card under windows XP?

What's the best way (other than opening the chassis) to identify a sound card under windows XP? it is a generic, on board sound card.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 299
Total answers/comments: 2
bert [Entry]

"Open the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI

You'll see subkeys like ""VEN_1013&DEV_6003&SUBSYS_01531014&REV_01"". That's a PCI identification string. Open these up and you'll see subkeys like ""3&61aaa01&0&28"". When you highlight one of these subkeys you'll see some values w/ description information. Look for the ""Unknown"" device.

Once you find the unknown device, search the ""VEN_xxxx"" and ""DEV_xxxx"" portion on Google, and you're likely to find something. Some of the Linux PCI code has a nice manifest of devices in it.

http://www.pcidatabase.com can help you search by vendor number, as well.

That's probably your best bet, short of opening the case, to find more about the device."
bert [Entry]

For an onboard soundcard you could also just watch for the motherboard model number during post. Or even in the bios. Then head to the manufacturers website and find a driver there. The previous answer looks great too though.