Originally Posted by
lucky9876coins
... Thanks. I tried the windows update, and went for the express option (didn't show me how many). As I started installing the updates I got the message that some file ending in wstcodec.sys is still running and I'd have to close it before retrying. ...
Try downloading the update from Dell. After downloading / installing that reboot.
Go back to Windows Update and choose the custom option
Troubleshooting Audio problems with Windows sucks on its own ... and doing it remotely adds to the level of suckage ...
Give these both as once over:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/307918
http://www.5starsupport.com/faq/sound.htm