Audio cards for Windows 2008 server

[Avinash Kaur]

Recently i had set up a virtual machine in order to run Windows 2008 Server on it. Now the problem seems to be that Windows 2008 Server doesn't recognize the audio hardware provided by Windows Vista. So can any body tell me that which audio cards is best for Windows 2008 server? Can any bod tell me that how to get this running on my system? kindly provide me the correct solution for the above issue.

[Marthaz]

The service pack has new sound emulator drivers for Vista and Windows Server 2008. Being a server OS Windows 2008 carries with it basic graphics and audio drivers. To utilize the full strength of your hardware ensure you install the latest drivers for both graphics and audio hardware. Only with the proper graphics drivers will you be able to enable the "Aero" experience on Windows 2008.

[ApPy10]

Be sure to install it and setup your VMC as a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 virtual machine. You need to follow the below steps mention. To view the drivers you still need open the Server Manager by right clicking on Computer, and clicking Manage. In the Server Manager expand Diagnostics and click Device Manager. The Windows Device Manager probably won’t tell much more about the unknown devices than Audio Device or even Unknown Device.

[Team Leader]

Even if your machine's hardware supports virtualization it is most likely not going to be enabled by default. You have to enable it via your BIOS setup. For that you need to install the sound drivers along with Virtual Machine Additions first, then need to reboot and then install the sound drivers from the C:\Program Files\Virtual Machine Additions folder on the VHD. You need to follow the below steps mention.

1. Install Virtual Machine Additions (File > Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions). This will mount a virtual drive and run a setup program to install the VM additions.
2. After installing the software, reboot the VPC as directed
3. If you get the Found New Hardware dialog, you can point it to the C:\Program Files\Virtual Machine Additions folder to install the drivers from there
4. If you don’t get the Found New Hardware dialog (you disabled it because it was bugging you to death), you can install the device driver from the Device Manager
1. Open the Device Manager (Start > Control Panel > Device Manager)
2. Under the Other devices, you’ll see a yellow icon indicating you have a problem with the Multimedia Audio Controller
3. Right-click the Multimedia Audio Controller and select the Update Device Driver option
4. Select the option to “Browse my computer” and point it to the C:\Program Files\Virtual Machine Additions folder
5. Click Next to install the device drivers
5. After the device driver setup is complete, your sound should start working, and you’ll no longer have an annoying device driver warning when you startup your VPC

Windows Server 2008 does not have Windows Media player installed by default. If you want to get streaming media audio running, you’ll need to install it.