error loading cmicnfg.cpl. help please

[bilateralrope]

every time i boot up my computer a dialog give this error message:

Error loading cmicnfg.cpl

The specfied module could not be found

It started aperaing a few weeks back, but as its apperance coincided with doom 3 running well (instead of crashing after about 1/2 an hour of playing) I decided to ignore it since I noticed no other effects and fixing it could break doom 3. Since doom 3 no longer interests me I want to know how to fix it.

I am running xp home sp2 with all the critical patches installed

[Uraniun235]

source

cmicnfg.cpl is a process belonging to C-Media based soundcards which is initiated upton startup to configure this audio hardware's control panel applet. This program is non-essential process to the running of the system, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.

Try reinstalling your sound drivers.

[bilateralrope]

source

cmicnfg.cpl is a process belonging to C-Media based soundcards which is initiated upton startup to configure this audio hardware's control panel applet. This program is non-essential process to the running of the system, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.

Try reinstalling your sound drivers.

My driver disk refuses to let me re-install them because they are already there. When I tell xp to remove them I lose sound, but the disk thinks they are still there. After the next reboot I still get the error, and windows re-installs them during boot

[sparrowtm]

Try removing all sound-card related entries in the registry, and the system components tab. Remove all reference to any soundcard driver in the software-deinstallation screen as well, and manually delete all related files on the harddrive if possible.

Then install from scratch.

You might also want to run a program like "regcleaner" to get rid of missing dlls and cpls after doing this.

[Uraniun235]

Does the disk itself have an uninstall utility? Try using that.

If that fails, you could try copying the missing file directly to your system32 folder (within either a WINDOWS or WINNT folder).

[bilateralrope]

Try removing all sound-card related entries in the registry, and the system components tab. Remove all reference to any soundcard driver in the software-deinstallation screen as well, and manually delete all related files on the harddrive if possible.

There is no way I am going to manually fiddle with the registry, even if I knew what I was doing.

Does the disk itself have an uninstall utility? Try using that.

If that fails, you could try copying the missing file directly to your system32 folder (within either a WINDOWS or WINNT folder).

No uninstall utility, and the only copies of cmicnfg.cpl
I have on my comp are in:
C:\Documents and Settings\me\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Audio\cmedia\Driver\WDM and
C:\Documents and Settings\me\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Audio\cmedia\Driver\WIN_98

Both files have the same size (2396k) and date modified (11/12/2003 19:44). There is no such file on the drive cd

[Uraniun235]

Well, you could try copying one of those suckers into system32. I really doubt it'd break your computer... but I make no guarantees.

[bilateralrope]

I used windows update to update my sound driver. The error went away, so did all sound. I searched for the file and found it in c:\windows\system (the other copies had vanished) so i copied that file then rolled back the driver. Sound came back, so did the error. I copied the file into windows\system and windows\system32 then rebooted. All appears fine now

[sparrowtm]

There is no way I am going to manually fiddle with the registry, even if I knew what I was doing.

Glad you solved the problem, but why would you restrain from fiddling with your registry even if you had the knowledge how to do it?