Dell Inspiron 6000 Computer Freezes when I Control Volume with Button thingys

Hi I don't know what those buttons that control sound are called but they are located next to the spot where you open the top. Ok so I just reinstalled Windows XP and downloaded and installed the audio driver from the website. Everything works fine (I can hear my music) until I decide to mute or lower/increase volume using those buttons thingy which then my computer freezes. Well not exactly, I can move my cursor around but I can't click on anything or execute anything with the mouse. Because of this I proceed to shut down (since I can't do anything) is through the power button, which then goes through that termination of all programs process, however I notice that I am able to click stuff again while it is shutting down (I am guessing it terminated some process that is causing the problem) Now I am manually forced to control volume through the tray icon which is very annoying. I have installed the correct driver... I don't know what is going on !!!

Message Edited by slimejocke on 01-03-2008 01:34 AM