You Receive a Prompt for the Aliadwdm.sys File When Upgrading Windows XP (810704)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1
SYMPTOMSWhen you upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows XP
Professional, or when you upgrade Windows XP to the latest Service Pack, you
may receive a prompt for the location of the Aliadwdm.sys file. If you do not
act on this prompt, after the upgrade, sound does not work in Windows XP and a
yellow exclamation mark appears next to the audio device in Device Manager.
CAUSEDuring the upgrade, the Windows XP setup process deletes the
audio device driver Aliadwdm.sys because earlier versions of the file are known
to cause problems.
In most cases, the file is replaced with
Ac97ali.sys, which is a later version of the audio device driver.
RESOLUTIONTo resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:
- Download and install the latest version of the audio driver
from the manufacturer's Web site.
- Locate the preload CD-ROM that is included with your
computer, and then reinstall only the audio driver.
STATUS Microsoft
has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed
at the beginning of this article.
MORE INFORMATIONEarlier versions of Aliadwdm.sys contain known issues with
Windows XP.
Therefore, when upgrading to Windows XP or one of its
service packs, look for Aliadwdm.sys in the Txtsetup.sif file. If present,
delete it, and then install the built-in driver Ac97ali.sys.
However,
if Windows determines that Aliadwdm.sys is a better match than Ac97ali.sys, try
to keep Aliadwdm.sys because it is the best driver to use. For example, this
might occur if it was a later version than the built-in driver. Because the
driver was removed during the beginning of the upgrade, you receive a prompt
for the location of the third-party driver Aliadwdm.sys. If you ignore the
prompt for the driver, the upgrade completes, and a yellow exclamation mark
appears next to the audio device driver in Device Manager.
After the
upgrade, you can either update the driver using the ALI driver, or you can
remove the driver in Device Manager and scan for new hardware changes so that
the built-in driver is installed instead. REFERENCES
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 12/27/2003 |
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| Keywords: | kbprb KB810704 |
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