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My CD-ROM drive has stopped working

You should see several volume sliders, with check boxes at the bottom. You might (or might not, depending on your brand of sound card) have a check box in the lower left corner that says 'Mute all'. It should be unchecked. The other input sources are represented by check marks to turn them on ('Mute all' is the only check box that turns everything off). The Select boxes beside 'Wave out' and 'CD-ROM' should be checked too, and their volumes turned up.

Next (again if you're using Windows '95 or '98) right click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties' from the pop-up menu. In the dialogue box, click on the 'Device Manager' tab. If something's wrong with your software, Device Manager should know and place an exclamation mark next to the listing for your sound card driver.

If no such mark appears and you still have no sound, and you're sure your speakers are correctly plugged in, does your CD-ROM drive have a headphone plug at the front? Try plugging in your headphones and insert a music CD. If you hear sound, then your drive is fine. If the CD won't play at all - maybe it won't even spin - then your sound card could also be doubling as your CD-ROM drive's controller card, or 'host adaptor'.

It still uses two software drivers, so it's unlikely that both drivers would stop working at the same time. In that instance, I'd reckon the card itself was at fault.

Here's a silly test: try plugging in headphones where your speakers normally go. If there's still no sound, your speakers probably aren't at fault.

If you get sound from the headphone jack in the front of the CD-ROM drive but nowhere else, then you may need to take drastic measures.

Make sure you have your Windows CD-ROM handy and make sure your CD-ROM drive spins, and that it shows files when you click on its directory. Go into Device Manager, then click on the 'plus' sign in front of 'Sound, video and game controllers'.

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