The required info..
Win XP SP2
Mobo : Asus A8N SLI - Deluxe
Video : nVidia Geforce 6800GS
RAM : 2gig
HD[1] : 100gig western digital (model unknown, its PRETTY old though) IDE
HD[2] : 200gig maxtor SATA
Monitor[1] : Sony Trinitron G400
Monitor[2] : Benq P775
Soundcard : Onboard

The background...
i rarely reboot my computer. It occurs once every couple months, so 2 days ago, things were running sluggish, and it was clear it was time for a reboot. So, thats what i did.

Upon restarting i got 2 issues.

The first - My D: drive (200gig sata), had to be formatted (no reason specified).
The second - My sound was no longer recognized.

So, after fighting with windows not showing me my D: drive, i was forced to format. Though i lost 200gigs of info, it was all backed up, so i dont consider that a huge issue, and the drive is functioning fine now after the format.

The audio however i can't seem to fix.

If i leave my computer off for a few hours then reboot, i will have sound. The sound plays fine for about 10 MINUTES at which point it gets fuzzy/scratchy, and then stops. This isnt just 1 program, it affects all system sounds as well.

If i reboot after this, my sound device is not recognized by windows, and it will remain unrecognized until i leave my computer off for a few hours.

i UPDATED drivers, checked bios, updated bios, checked my connections. Everything is up to date....The fact that it works on occassion says to me its not a software issue, which would imply a hardware malfunction. I suspect i somehow fried the sound portion of my motherboard.

Anyone have any clues? If i can avoid buying a new soundcard i will.

Sounds like a heat issue since it is onboard sound and you have INTERMITTENT problems with it. The clue is if the machine is off for awhile it works...

Get a can of compressed air from a computer shop nearby.

Remove all power sources to the machine and take off the cover/side panel.
Use the compressed air on all heatsinks and fans. Use a Q-Tip to hold the fan blades in place when blowing them out as the high pressure can spin them to the point of damage.

When done leave the cover/panel off for now til you re-boot and make sure all fans operate properly...

If you still have issues invest in a PCI addon sound card...they're not that costly.

Good Luck and take your time. Let us know...


p.s. If the IDE is your boot drive you may want to consider "cloning" it to the SATA and having that as your boot device...you may see a performance increase from the newer drive. Then just wipe the IDE and use it for storage.I figued it was heat as well.

I've cleaned out my fans, cover is off.

The thing i cant figure out though, is everything was fine until i rebooted. If it was a heat issue, shouldnt i have seen evidence of that before rebooting?

Not neccessarily...how old is the MBoard ? ?little over a YEAR and a half old.Onboard chips die...grab a sound card. You and your machine will both be happier...