I've had this computer for a year and a half, and it is rife with technical faults, problems, and things that just don't work. First it was the fact that it didn't have mouse drivers. Then the entire network system needed to be reinstalled because it wouldn't read my Wi-Fi when I was an inch from the router. The latest problem is now the sound. Well, it's been going on for a while now, but I've finally given up on continuing to play around with it, and I'm gonna ask here for help.
Whenever I try and play anything, whether it be music, videos, YouTube videos, or anything else, the sound either works or doesn't depending on it's mood. I can play one YouTube video and it will work fine, and on the second it won't work at all. A fix that used to work was going to the "Speakers/Headphones Properties" and under the advanced tab changing the default format between "16 bit, 44100Hz (CD Quality)" and "16 bit, 48000Hz (DVD Quality)", and then running a test tone. That used to do the job.
Now that doesn't even work. Now I'll get a window saying "The device is being used by another application. If you continue that application may stop working. Do you want to continue?" There are two problems here: 1) There is nothing open that will use the sound. 2) When I press "Yes", I am then greeted with a notification stating "Failed to play test tone".
Yet another issue is that when the sound decides it's not working, the volume notification doesn't work either. I can use the "Fn" and F12 key to raise the volume to the limits, but it won't make a difference because the volume doesn't work, but even more, the volume icon in the taskbar won't change, and the volume icon that appears on screen when changing volume won't appear. This is the same for lowering volume or muting.
I've tried disabling and reenabling the sound card and anything else that has to do with sound. I've checked to make sure that I've got the most up-to-date drivers, and I've rolled back the drivers to previous versions. Nothing works. Even if I do somehow get the sound to stick around for more than 4 or 5 songs, if I restart the computer everything gets tossed out the window and it's all up to fate again if the sound will work when Windows starts up or won't.
Please, please, please help me. I've hated this computer since the second I bought it, but please, let me at least live with it in peace and use it like it was actually meant to be used. Everyone I speak to tells me Dell is an amazing company. I have a year and a half experience with an extremely less-than-stellar computer to prove them wrong. Maybe the support community is worth something, because the computer sure isn't.....