Multimedia Works: No Sound Available in the Tutorial or Demo (108378)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Works 3.0
This article was previously published under Q108378

SYMPTOMS

No sounds will play in the Works for Windows 3.0 Tutorial or the Introducing Works Demonstration if both the low-level device-dependent driver and the [MCI] Sound driver are not installed.

RESOLUTION

Use the Driver option in the Control Panel to install the [MCI] Sound driver or contact the Sound Card Manufacturer to install the low-level device-dependent sound driver.

To install the [MCI] Sound driver:

  1. Select the Drivers icon in the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Choose the Add button.
  3. In the List of Drivers, select [MCI] Sound and choose OK.
  4. If the MCIWAVE.DRV driver is already on the hard drive, a message will appear with this information and ask to either install the Current driver or a New one. It is okay to install the Current driver.
  5. The [MCI] Sound driver has an option for setting up the amount of memory the driver will use for buffering. The default is 4 and it is okay to select this option.
  6. For the changes to take effect, restart Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Most sound-capable programs in Windows require a sound card to function. Most applications provide one of the following sounds or a combination of these sounds:

  • CD AUDIO
  • Wave
  • MIDI
For a sound card to function properly in Windows, it must have drivers installed for it. There are three types of drivers used in Windows:

  1. Device-dependent drivers - Drivers supplied by the sound card manufacturer that provide most functionality of the sound card.
  2. Windows-dependent drivers - A combination of [MCI] drivers, a timer, and a MIDIMAPPER.
  3. Application-dependent drivers - Drivers installed by the application in use when it is set up.
Works for Windows 3.0 does not install any application-dependent drivers. The Works for Windows 3.0 Tutorial and the Introducing Works Demonstration use waveform (.WAV) sounds. Works uses both the device- dependent driver and the [MCI] Sound driver.

If either driver is missing, there will be no sounds in either the Tutorial or the Demonstration.

Use the Sound icon in the Control Panel to verify which driver is missing:

  1. Select the Sound icon in the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Choose a .WAV file from the Files box.

    Windows loads four files in the Windows directory during setup. These are:

    CHIMES.WAV
    TADA.WAV
    DING.WAV
    CHORD.WAV

  3. Choose the Play button in the File Information box at the bottom of the screen.
If the Play button is unavailable (dimmed), the low-level device dependent driver is not installed or is not set up properly. Contact the manufacturer of the sound card for further assistance.

If the button is available but no sounds play when it is selected, the [MCI] Sound driver is not installed. Follow the steps above to install it properly.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:1/21/2000
Keywords:KB108378
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.