Hi iggie, I have this problem with my Vista laptop. I hope this will help. Go to Device Manager and see if Audio is listed. If it is not, this is what I have found works. Do a memory test (recovery memory test). Control Panel/Administration Tools/Memory Diagnostic Tool (check your computer for memory problems). Choose: Restart now and check for Problems. (recommended) Leave your computer alone until it shuts down. When you restart, your audio should be back. This also works for HP Quick Touck OnScreen Display Stops Working (Problem Event: APP crash) This is a recurring problem with many computers so you may have to do this again.....and again. Good luck, maggie

check the link for info on that ATI Catalyst. ati2evxx.exe is the ATI External Event Utility for your ATI display drivers. It manages the ATI Hotkey feature. It seems it is really up to the individual user if they want to leave this running on their pc or not. IF it is using a lot of cpu resources and causing problems it can be turned off/disabled. It is mostly for use if you have 2 monitors in use on the one pc, it controls the hotkeys used to switch monitors and other ATI hotkeys. so I would go ahead and let it update since you do have ATI components on your pc, it is likely a real ATI process. You should see it in your task manager if you hit control alt and delete together then look at the list of processes you should see it listed there and you can also look and see how much resources it is using. Here is a link that might be useful: ATI Catalyst

ilmbg- Some antennas are better at getting signals than others, but you're asking about a spec that is not really going to help you. If you go into your Device Manager, you can click on Network adapters and find the properties of your wireless card, but you are not going to find an antenna strength or range. Frankly, with problems like this you can't just look at some specs and say: "This add-on device will fix things and this one won't." I've fiddled with range extenders and antenna locations in a number of situations and sometimes things worked and sometimes they didn't. You just have to buy something and try it; maybe order something from Amazon so you can ship it back if it doesn't work. Below is a link to an article about signal strength issues and some related links. Here is a link that might be useful: Signal strength

Starting with the simple things. You didn't mention a reboot or a system restore. What did you recently do out of the ordinary, if anything? Any updates or upgrades? Software removal or additions? Windows Updates? Software reconfigurations? Full system scan with your AV and malware detection software(s) of choice? Thunderstorms or power surges? ----------------- -------Rebooted,System restore, nothing new, automatic updates and driver downloads, full system scan and malware (which said some files could not be scanned), thunderstorms after loss of sound.