Game Voice: How to Determine if Your Sound Card Is a Full-Duplex Sound Card (273883)

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A full-duplex sound card can record and play back sounds at the same time.

A half-duplex sound card can either record sound or play back sound, but it cannot do both at the same time. Game Voice cannot work properly with a half-duplex sound card.

A sound card may behave like a full-duplex sound card when the computer uses the standard sound functions in Microsoft Windows, but it may behave like a half-duplex sound card when a program that uses DirectSound is running on the computer. Game Voice cannot work properly if the sound card behaves like a half-duplex sound card when DirectSound is running. In most cases, you can add full-duplex support for DirectSound by installing the latest version of the sound driver for the sound card.

If your sound card behaves like a full-duplex sound card even when DirectSound is running on the computer, Game Voice works properly.

To determine if your sound card is a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card, contact the manufacturer of your sound card.

For information about how to contact the manufacturer of your sound card, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To test your sound card to determine if it is a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Basic Test for Full-Duplex

To determine if your sound card is a full-duplex sound card when the computer uses the standard sound functions in Microsoft Windows, use the Sound Recorder tool to attempt to record a sound and play back a sound at the same time. To do this:

1. Before you start the test, quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer. To do this:
   1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
   2. In the Close Program dialog box, click any program except Explorer or Systray (which are components of Microsoft Windows), and then click End Task.
      
      If you receive a message stating that the program is busy or not responding, click End Task again.
   3. Repeat steps A and B to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Entertainment, and then click Sound Recorder.
3. Repeat step 2 to start a second Sound Recorder session.
4. In the first Sound Recorder session, play a sound (.wav) file that is at least 30 seconds long. To do this:
   1. On the File menu, click Open.
   2. In the Look in box, navigate to the location of a .wav file that is at least 30 seconds long.
   3. Click the appropriate .wav file, and then click Open.
5. While the first session of Sound Recorder plays the .wav file, switch to the second session of Sound Recorder, and then click the Record button (the red circle) to record a new .wav file.

If you can record a new sound while the first sound is being played, your sound card is a full-duplex sound card when the computer uses the standard sound functions in Microsoft Windows. To determine if your sound card is a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card, proceed to the next method.

If you receive an error message when you attempt to record a new sound while the first sound is being played, your sound card is a half-duplex sound card. You cannot us Game Voice with a half-duplex sound card.

Test for Full-Duplex with DirectSound

To determine if your sound card is a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card:

1. Before you start the test, quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer. To do this:
   1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
   2. In the Close Program dialog box, click any program except Explorer or Systray (which are components of Microsoft Windows), and then click End Task.
      
      If you receive a message stating that the program is busy or not responding, click End Task again.
   3. Repeat steps A and B to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Entertainment, and then click Sound Recorder.
3. Start a game that uses DirectSound technology.
4. Press ALT+TAB to switch back to the Sound Recorder window.
5. Press the Record button (the red circle) to record a new .wav file.

If you can record a sound while a game that uses DirectSound is running on your computer, your sound card is a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card.

If you receive an error message when you attempt to record a sound while a game that uses DirectSound is running on your computer, your sound card is not a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card.

You may be able to convert your sound card to a DirectSound-compatible full-duplex sound card by installing the latest version of the sound driver for your sound card. Contact the manufacturer of your sound card to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest version of the sound driver for your sound card.