Solved: CDs and DVDs: no sound! But other sounds work! What is wrong?

My sony-vaio desktop (xp home, sp2) has got two drives, a DVD-ROM drive and a DVD+/-RW/CD-RW drive. The computer is 5 years old and has always played back my CDs and DVDs without problems. Until this morning. I did not change my computer in any way or install/deinstall anything. Suddenly, there is simply no sound when I try to play back DVDs in either drive with PowerDVD or with Windows Media Player. The image is fine with DVDs - but no sound. And if I try playing a CD in Windows Media Player, I am told that there is a problem with the audio device - all the menus are in German, so I am translating here. But other sounds work (streaming content, mpeg-4 files, computer sounds like e-mail notification etc.). My loudspeakers are plugged in (well, they've got to be if the other sounds are okay!). What is wrong? I checked under device manager, but everything seems to be okay, nothing is set on mute, there seem to be no conflicts...Can anyone help me? And below is a snapshot of the audio devices on my computer (they're indicated in German), and there's no red cross or any other mark which may indicate that there's something wrong with them.

 

Sounds like (no pun intended ) you may have bad audio cables leading from the drives to the motherboard.

 

In other words: the computer is ancient and should be hauled off to a dump. Well, I've still got a laptop with Vista on it...I am hesitating to download service pack 1 on it although Windows Update keeps notifying me...I'm afraid that SP1 do something weird to the laptop...and I'll be left without a computer at all - I think this one, the desktop with the sound problem, is going to pieces. I do remember that, a few days ago, I received a blue chkdsk screen on the desktop, saying that one of my drives (I have two, C and D) was incosistent or something and had to be checked. I chose to have chkdsk go ahead with its scan, and after it had done (it said that it was successful), the computer booted normally into Windows. I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would last more than 5 meagre years...oh well...I don't know how long-lived laptops are.

 

Okay, this is really strange. Tried playing a DVD with PowerDVD and Windows Media Player after a few reboots, still didn't work. So. I try playing the DVD with VLC portable. VLC portable is on a USB drive. And...it worked. Is this because my hard drive C is missing a codec or something (maybe thanks to chkdsk), but VLC, because it is portable, does not miss it?

I managed to fish this info out of PowerDVD:

Hardware Information :
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU running at 2539 MHz
3DNow! Technology : Not Detected
Enhanced 3DNow! Technology : Not Detected
3DNow! Professional Technology : Not Detected
IA MMX Technology : In Use
IA Streaming SIMD Extensions : In Use
IA SSE 2 : In Use
Video Accelerator : DirectX VA (not in use)
Multispeakers Audio Device : Not Detected
SPDIF Output Device : SoundMAX Digital Audio (not in use)

When I go "Configuration" (I'm translating from German) and then to "Audio", everything is greyed out, except for "Use SPDIF". But I can't choose my audio settings (with a DVD inside [in pause/stop status] and without a DVD). It's like there's no connection to the audio device. I don't get it.
Okay, back again. Went to control panel to check the audio settings and when I tried to call up the advanced settings of my loudspeakers (I've got 2 external loudspeakers), I got the message:
"DirectSound settings not available"

 

I'll try reinstalling the Soundmax driver from my PC manufacturer's website. Let's see if it works.

 

IT WORKED! Sound is back again, as are the advanced settings/options for the sound. This was a driver problem, and it required the reinstallation of the driver (I managed to find an updated version on my manufacturer's website for my computer model). Problem solved.