Why is there no sound in new game, but it works elsewhere?

Updated: 07/13/2023 by Computer Hope

If you cannot get sound to work in a game, but it works correctly in other programs on your computer, the following steps might help you fix the problem.

Microsoft DirectX issue

Microsoft DirectX

It is a good possibility that you are encountering an issue with DirectX, or the graphics settings in the game are misconfigured. See the DirectX help page for additional troubleshooting related to DirectX.

Sound card settings

If you believe your game does not utilize DirectX, verify that if the game requires sound card settings to be entered, that the proper settings are set. For example, your sound card's IRQ (Interrupt ReQuest), DMA (Direct Memory Access), or I/O (input/output) may be set improperly. Often these settings are INTERRUPT=220 IRQ=5 DMA=1. However, these values may not always work.

If you are not familiar with what your sound settings are, check your sound card properties under Device Manager. Users running Windows 98 or later can also check their sound card settings through the System Information program by following the steps below.

  1. Click Start, Programs, and then Accessories.
  2. Click System Tools
  3. Click System Information

Old MS-DOS game in Windows

If the game was designed for MS-DOS, see: How to get old MS-DOS games to run in Windows.