How to completely remove the Creative packa

Question

I've been dealing with an ongoing issue with my Audigy2 Platinum since upgrading from W2K Pro to XP Pro. Initially, everything worked well, however, when I opted to use the WebUpdate, things rapidly fell apart... I manually removed the folders and entries in the registry, and tried re-installing, to no avail. I was able to at least access the EAX, speaker settings, and mixer from the task bar icon, but... since last updating the drivers, even that is gone, tells me the programs are not installed. I've used the repair feature on my install CD, same problem. Diagnostics tells me that only the hardware and Directsound are working, everything else fails, running the fix has no effect...
What I need to know is a method to COMPLETELY remove everything regarding the sound card from my system, including the card, and then installing it once more, and hoping beyond hope that I can once more be able to use my card. As it stands now, regardless of what settings I employ in the Windows sound panel, only the front channels and the subwoofer work. The rest of the speakers do "hiss", but no sound is coming from them... Before updating the drivers, I was at least able to set things to 5., and get some sound from the speakers, and could use the EAX, mixer, and speaker settings panels, now I am stuck with only an effecti've 2. system regardless of what I do...
Short of resorting to formatting and installing everything from the ground up, which isn't a viable option, how can I go about getting this confounded thing working as it should once more?
Incidentally, the original issue cropped up nearly a year back, and contacting tech support resulted in the "cut and paste" responses. Remove driver, reinstall... did that, problem persists... Try option B... did that, problem persists... Remove driver, reinstall... did that, problem persists... Try option B... did that, problem persists... This went on for over a week until I finally got fed up and just li'ved with it. A recent game installation required me to update the drivers again, and this time, the webupdate did so, however, as a result, I effecti'vely have lost 95% of the capability of the card.
Please help, while I still have some of my hair left here...
Belgarius

Answer 1

Yes, that sounds quite familiar. Under W2K, things worked well, although I rarely used anything outside the speaker settings, EAX, and mixer, the rest of the package was there, and appeared to work. Once I upgraded to XP Pro, things still appeared functional, at least those parts I routinely used. As a part of the update, I set about updating other items, such as the software/driver packages for the Audigy, and that's where the fun started. Once I completed the "web update", the system hard locked on rebooting, and once it was restarted, I noticed right away that my sound was hosed. I started checking, and found that nearly all of the program apps were missing. Well, not exactly missing persay, but the links led to shortcuts instead of ap
ps.
Once these shortcuts were inspected, I had the same "empty exes" that you mention. Making a long story short, I eventually wound up uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers several times in order to get the taskbar functions back for some of the card's features, but none of the apps ever reappeared.
Recently, I installed a new game which required me to update to the latest sound drivers. I did so using the webupdate once more, and this time, it finished up without incident, however, I no longer have any controls available, and those mentioned in CTPanel, which is present now, are greyed out, and have no effect. Instead of my 6. system, with EAX and effects, I now effecti'vely have a non-EAX card, with only 2. for speakers.
This coming weekend, I plan to go through the process outlined in the link provided, and see if I can at least get the base features of the card back. I was considering doing a complete format, but this is a bit much, especially in light of the fact that only the sound has been effected. Your mention that you have already went this route with the same results has led me to think that the problem lies somewhere with the software and XP. I'd really hate to have to go through the aggravation of restoring the system, and since a good bit of it would be from backups, I would no doubt restore the initial problem.
It's sad that such a great product as the hardware is, apparently has some serious issues with either the software (many others have similar complaints) the OS it runs under, or both... Personally, I can do without the Media center and the rest of the software, but I do want the features of the card to at least function. I could have simply stayed with my old card and speaker setup, and saved myself a few hundred sheckles, and still have had about the same sound features as I now have...
I've worked with computers for years now, and this is undoubtedly the most perplexing, and vexing issue that I have had to date, and that includes administering a network running Windows NT, 3., DOS, Clipper, and beta releases of 95...
Sigh...
Belgarius