In order for anyone to help you need to tell us what kind of computer you have like which Dell, what model, and system information.

I look at my hardware and it shows it downloaded but it has a yellow ! and when i click on it it says

 

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

 

sooo wat do i do??

I have a Windows Xp Dimension 2400 and it used to work just fine but now the sound is acting up.

In the device manager, right-click AC-97 (or whichever sound card you have), and click uninstall. Then let Windows find the sound card and reinstall the sound card drivers using the disc that came with the sound card, or the Dell ResourceCD if it is the Dell onboard sound. If these steps don't work, then you may need to reformat the computer. If you do that and reformatting doesn't fix your sound, then the sound card is done for. You can buy a cheap Creative Labs, Inc. Sound Blaster Audigy for pretty cheap. I use a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 sound card in my Dell with no problems. If you decide to buy a new sound card, you may have to disable onboard sound in your BIOS/CMOS settings. I don't remember if I had to or not. It's been over a year since I installed my Sound Blaster.