Correcting Problems with Playing .WAV Files

When a multimedia application is unable to play waveform-audio (.WAV) files, it is usually due to one or more of the following problems:

The sound card is not installed properly.

Most sound cards come with MS-DOS – based programs for playing sounds or testing card configurations. Run these test programs; if the sound card does not work with these programs, then it will not work with Windows 95 sound support.

Make sure the sound card settings do not conflict with other hardware. Use the Add New Hardware icon in Control Panel to detect your hardware, which will determine if you have any hardware for which the appropriate driver is not yet installed. Verify port and IRQ settings.

Note If the sound card can play MIDI files, the card is properly installed.

A waveform-audio driver is not installed.

If you are running Sound Recorder and there is no waveform-audio driver installed, you will receive an error message. In this case, make sure that the waveform-audio driver is listed in the Multimedia Devices list; you can see this list by clicking the Advanced tab in the Multimedia option in Control Panel. If the sound card is compatible with Sound Blaster™, try using the Sound Blaster driver provided with Windows 95. If you cannot find the correct driver for the sound card in the list, try using the Windows 3.1 driver for that card.

A waveform-audio MCI driver is not enabled.

If you are running Media Player and cannot play .WAV files, perform the following procedure to correct the problem.

To enable the waveform-audio MCI driver

  1. In the Multimedia option in Control Panel, click the Advanced tab.
  2. In the Multimedia Devices list, click the plus (+) sign next to Media Control Devices.

    If Wave Audio Device (Media Control) does not appear in the list, the driver is not installed.

  3. Click Wave Audio Device (Media Control), and then click the Properties button.
  4. In the properties dialog box, click Use This Media Control Device.