Not familiar with Win7, as I don't have it yet, but something I have been doing since the old XP days, and it has helped in the past, is to add all my game, 3D model programs, and art programs to the list in the Data Execution Prevention section in the Windows System Properties.
This is how I get there on Vista, so I don't know if it is the same for Win7.
To get there,
Right click on My Computer
The window that opens has 4 options on the upper left side. Click on Advanced Options
A System Properties window will open.
There Advanced tab across the top should be showing. There are 5 tabs, Advanced is in the middle, click on it if it isn't.
Under Performance, the first options, click the Settings button to the right.
Another sub window should open with Visual Effects, Advanced, and Data Execution Prevention.
At the top are 2 options,
Choose the one that says,
Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:
In the window under the options, there are Add, and Remove buttons, click on add, and navigate to game .exe files or other programs. DEP has been a pain in the patoot since the XP days.
But it was discovered with XP, that you could go to the Windows boot.ini file, and shut it off permanently, but M$ left the option off Vista, and I'm sure they did the same with 7.
With DEP disabled, everything on the computer ran smoother, and it reduced crashes by 90+%.
But if you add the game .exe files to the list, it should help, and may let you restore your sound to where you wanted it. Even though I built this rig, back in '08 although, it has onboard sound, and hasn't given me a lick of trouble. I avoided getting a dedicated soundcard because there were issue with S-Blasters causing crashes so I waited, and honestly, I found I really didn't need one. I have Dolby 7.1 capabilities with this board, and Core2 Extreme quad processor, and 8 gigs of ram, with 2 way SLi, so I'm good.
Hope this helps some!
