Creative 5.1 Speakers.

Hi, just a couple of weeks ago, I bought a new PC. Ive got creative 5.1 Speakers (Cambridge SoundWorks) and I cant get all 5 speakers to work. Is there any way I can get all 5 speakers to work without inserting the Creative Audio Card in my new pc? My new pc is branded and I think I shud not play around with it….. Can someone plz help me out here……

Hi Shan92, Your "Five-Speaker" hardware set probably includes one larger box enclosing a "powered" sub-woofer and then four smaller speaker units that connect from the back of the sub-woofer box? To use that 5 speaker system, you will have to use the Creative Audio PCI Card. Doing so should not cause conflicts with your current machine setup and is safe to do. We'll need a bit more information to assist you further, if you require anything further. For instance, does your new machine have "onboard sound" or a separate PCI Sound Card? If it is "onboard", there is probably a BIOS setting to "disable" onboard sound, which clears the way for you to physically install the Creative Audio PCI Card and run the installation CD that accompanied that card/speaker hardware, to install the necessary drivers. I you no longer have the Creative Audio Installation CD, you can still probably get the Driver Installation via their website by download. Congrats, on getting a new machine! Best Regards

Your "Five-Speaker" hardware set probably includes one larger box enclosing a "powered" sub-woofer and then four smaller speaker units that connect from the back of the sub-woofer box?

There r 4 smaller speaker units tht connect from the back of the sub-woofer.

For instance, does your new machine have "onboard sound" or a separate PCI Sound Card?

umm….I dunno. How do I find out? and whats the difference between the 2?

actually I dont knw much about computer hardware…..

Here's a Pic of the back side of a computer tower (yours will likely be slightly different)
Notice the "locations" of connectors for "onboard audio" and also for PCI Card Audio if you happen to have it.
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In order to Install your Creative 5.1 system, you will need to unplug the power cord and open up your Tower Case.
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After you have Unplugged the power cord, press and hold (for about 30 seconds) the "power on" button on the front of your tower to discharge any remaining electrical capacitance.
Now the "insides" of your tower are all powered-down……. Except the Power Supply Unit box.
The PSU box may continue to have an electrical capacitance for several hours.
A Novice should "never" attempt to open or repair a Power Supply Unit, without expert help.
This is not, however, a problem to you when installing a PCI card, because you followed the instructions for "power-down" and unplug power cord – and you will not be opening up the Power Supply Unit box.

You should observe "static electricity pre-cautions".
Your body holds its own charge of static electricity which can harm the components inside of the computer tower. Therefore "touch" some metal structure piece inside the tower case before touching components to remove or install them. Avoid "shuffling your feet", since that will build up your body's static electricity again. It is possible to "purchase" a Static-Grounding bracelet to be used to discharge the body's static electricity while working inside a computer tower case, but I've found that the above "touching metal" technique works just fine.

Here's a "generic" picture of placement/installation of a PCI card such as your Creative 5.1 Audio Card.
(Your card is probably larger and green instead of red)
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Secure your PCI Card with the mounting screw (you'll need a Phillips head screw driver)
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Here's another pic of installing a Card that may give you a better overview:
(the card in the illustration is an AGP Graphics card, but still gives you a view and orientation for installing an Audio Card into one of the adjacent PCI Card Slots.
[external image: Posted Image]

If you already had a PCI Card Audeo Device, then you can simply Remove it physically and uninstall its driver by Selecting the Device in Device Manager - and Select - Uninstall

Then Physically install your Creative 5.1 PCI Card, close up the Tower and Reboot.
Windows will likely be able to install the correct Drivers, but if not, Run the installation CD that accompanied your Creative 5.1 or download the driver from the Creative website, and install it.

If you have "onboard Audio" then let us know so we can assist with any necessary steps to disable "Onboard Audio" and enable PCI Audio in your BIOS.

If you have difficulty with any of these steps, please post back with specific questions.
If you are "uncertain", "intimidated about working inside the tower", or "not sure" that you want to do this work yourself, take the tower to a local repair shop. This would be an "easy" procedure for them, and should not take much time, nor cost much money.

Best Regards

Its onboard sound. Not PCI. Dough, in my first post, my Q was if there is a way for the 5 speakers to work WITHOUT REMOVING THE BUILT-IN AUDIO CARD. Installing the creative audio-card could be a very lenghty and complicated task. For that ill have to install the Live Drive as well and It cud cause a conflict between creative and the built-in Realtek. I was just playing around with some options and the jacks today and surprisingly, I got all the 5 speakers to work properly! Anywayz, In the future if I had to install the creative audio card, I would absolutely consult you. I really appreciate ure help, Thx

Congrats to you again, shan92. New Computer…….. 5 speaker system………….. All working properly…………. Did it yourself at no cost………… Sounds like a winner to me!

haha…thx