I tend to believe it is nothing serious since trouble began when I unplugged the dell inspiron desktop to move it to another desk in the SAME ROOM. So I plug everything in and no sound. Ok, simple, I have something plugged in wrong. I have tried every possible usb port and speaker pin to every opening as well. No luck. Got some ms phone techs on it who connected to my pc and they could not find anything.
tried uninstalling and reinstalling drivers. Even bought some dell speakers. NOTHING.
There is a clue: whenever I shut the system down, I hear a crackle noise from the speaker - both old and new. Same when I turn it on. So, some sound is alive.
Called an expensive pc support dude who told me it could be the MOTHERBOARD. I don't think so.
Can anyone give me their thoughts? thanks. Mary, still a big fan of DELL