sound card

Hello. There is a "sound card" that is integrated on your motherboard. The type of it is HD (high definition) Audio. HD is the current type that is on all modern motherboards. There was an older type of audio hardware named AC97. That type of audio hardware was used on motherboards from about 1997 to around 2005 or 2006. AC97 does not have any meaning for your Inspiron 1545.

Hi Joshea,

To assist you further I would like to know if you have any audio problems with the system?

I suggest you to check in device manager for the right sound card installed in the system, check if there are any exclamation marks on the sound card; if so please install the drivers for the respective sound card.

I suggest you to uninstall the audio drivers and then reinstall it again.

Please follow the below mentioned steps to uninstall sound card drivers from the computer.

1) Click “Start” > right click “MY computer” > select “Manage” from the list> click “Device Manager”.

2) In the “Device Manager” window, double click “Sound, video and controllers”.

3) Right click “sound device", click "Uninstall", and ensure to check the box “Delete driver software for this device”.

4) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation and restart the computer.

5) Click this link: http://dell.to/Mbe3zg . Enter the service tag, select the operating system, and select Audio, and install the right Audio drivers from list of options.

6) Follow the onscreen instructions and complete the installation and check the sound in the computer.

Please reply for any further help.

Can you tell me if I need to get a sound card?

To clarify my earlier answer further, you cannot replace the HD audio hardware that is on your motherboard, whether it is working or not. You CAN get an external usb sound card that will bypass the internal sound card, however it will not be AC97. 

Hi Nickhil D  

Thank you for your assistance.

I have attempted to follow your instructions,  At step 2, when I clicked on "Devise Manager", among the list of options that appears is "Sound, video and game controllers". When I double click on this option, what appears is "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC" . This is different from your instructions.  I would be grateful for any further advise you could give me as to how I should proceed from here.

Thank you

Hi Joshea,

I suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the sound card drivers only if you have audio problem.

If the audio problem exists please right click "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC" listed under “sound, video and game controllers” in device manager windows and uninstall it, and ensure to check the box “Delete driver software for this device”.

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation and restart the computer.

Click this link: http://dell.to/Mbe3zg . Enter the service tag, select the operating system, and select Audio, and install the right Audio drivers from list of options.

Follow the onscreen instructions and complete the installation and check the sound in the computer.

Please reply for any further help.

uninstall and reinstall the sound card drivers only if you have audio problem.

Joshea, are you having a problem with your audio? If so, please tell us what the problem is. Before, you only said "I have just installed on my laptop a programme which tells me I require a sound card AC97.  My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1545.  Can you tell me if I need to get a sound card?"

I answered that question. If you have another question please be specific and tell us what it is.