Conflict with Audio Device

[kerrex_2006]

For the last month, I've been having problems with my Sound Blaster sound card, the system detects the card but it doesn't load the drivers, and on the device manager list, i see a problem with the kerrnel sound device showing the following problem:

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because there is a duplicate device already running in the system. (Code 42)

Can anybody help me out on this?

[redwudz]

Try moving it to another PCI slot, but avoid the one under the video card if possible. It usually shares IRQs (Interrupt ReQuest lines) with other devices. Your device manager should show if there is a conflict. You could also assign IRQs in BIOS, but most motherboards are set up to do this automatically.

Here's a article that may help if IRQs are your problem. Usually moving the cards around solves most of it: http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/change-irq-settings.htm

Also, if you have a on-board audio card, disable it in BIOS if you aren't using it.