Here's what I did - I GAVE IT UP. I am no techie. I installed SP1 - only took TWO HOURS - and voila, no sound. Read all night trying to figure out what went wrong. Then realized it had something to do with the RealTek driver. So then I agonized over how to uninstall the RealTek driver and then reinstall one but CLUELESS about what driver to install and afraid I'd never have sound again. How would the average person know this? So - in desperation (and fear) I restored my computer to the day before I installed this abortion called SP1. So I don't have SP1 but I DO HAVE MY SOUND BACK, and I'm going to leave it at that. So my Windows Live OneCare is on Orange Alert all the time - WHATEVER. I hate Vista. It is for I.T. people. I've had to restore to the basic point (like it was new in the box) three times in the past year. I will leave SP1 alone. I have spent HOURS trying to figure out this mess - I mean, we are entitled to SOUND on our computer in 2008, are we not? Yet Bill Gates gives us this junk that somehow renders some audio drivers MUTE? Next time my computer fries (which M/S WILL DO every few years), I'm switching to Mac. I am completely disgusted and will never buy another M/S product in my life. What was so wrong with XP anyway? NOTHING. Not for the average user. Eat your billions, Bill. This is the final straw. I've hated Vista from Day One.