Sound card help required

Just got a new PC and the sound doesn't work.
According to the hardware list all the drivers are installed and working but nothing is coming out.
Going through the Troubleshoot procedure indicates I may have the volume control set to zero, but I can't get the volume control panel up as it says that I have no active mixer devices installed.
Any body got any clues?
Soundcard is an 8-channel Realtek ALC888, and I'm running Win XP, SP2.

 

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Got it fixed.

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make sure your speakers work.
make sure they have power.
make sure they are plugged into the right jack.

make sure the master volume is turned up
if the speakers have a volume control turn it up.

check the routing of the wires, make sure there is nothing unplugged or otherwise causing problems.

if all of the above check out then it's time to consider a hardware problem.

 

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PEBKAC?

 

There was some game I played, it used some sophisticated hardware method for the sound, which unfortunately my sound card didn't support. This meant I didn't have any sound to begin with, until it was suggested on a website to change my setting to using the Software mode. This lessened the quality of the sound, and increased the resources used but it did give me sound during the game.

 

Not quite.
The sound card drivers supplied didn't register - I downloaded some older ones from the manufacturer and bingo!