[novus_ordo]

Hello all. i'm new here as you can probably tell, but i've got an issue with my computer that's driving me up the wall and this forum seemed the most knowledgable & in-depth.
i purchased a used machine yesterday from a local computer recycling center. everything seemed to work except for the minor issue of the sound not functioning at all. upon further examination, i discovered that the store hadn't supplied a sound card in the refurbishing process. i bought a Diamond Multi Media Xtreme Sound 7.1 [7.1/24 bit] card, took it home and installed it myself.
After installation there still wasn't any sound. the computer recognized the card, installed the drivers, and the system report said that there wasn't any problem with either; seemingly everything was working fine.
an internet search returned the possibility that the new card was clashing with the on-board sound utility. i went to the control panel and first disabled, then flat-out uninstalled the on-board sound program.
i re-installed the new card. same result; both the card & drivers are recognized, but still no audio. as if that wasn't enough, now when i boot up, i get a 'found new hardware' wizard that wants to install the "Multimedia Audio Controller." The icon for said controller sports a prominent yellow question mark over top of it. When i try and install the thing, it gives me an error message stating that it can't locate the drivers, and suggests skipping installation until later. this repeats whenever i try and reboot.
Belarc Advisor's scan of my system came back with the following:
- OS -
Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack (build 2195)
Processor: 2.4 Gig Intel Pentium 4
8kb Primary Memory Cache
512kb Secondary Memory Cache
- System Model -
Intel Corporation
- Main Circuit Board -
Board: Intel Corp. D845PEBT2AAC12587-402
Serial # IMM224314343
Bus Clock: 133 mghz
BIOS: Intel Corp. BT84520A.86A.0024.P10.0308081142 08/08/2003
- Drives -
40.02gb usable HD capacity
31.07gb free HD space
ATAPI CDRW 52Xmax (CDROM)
DVDROM 8X (CDROM)
3.5'' format removable media (floppy)
MAXTOR 6L040J2 (HD) (40.02GB) Drive 0
S/N 362128124239
REU A93.0500 Smart
Status: Healthy
- Memory modules -
512 installed memory
- Network Drives -
none
- Controllers -
standard floppy disk controller
Intel 82801 DB Ultra ATA controller
Primary IDE Channel (controller)
Secondary IDE Channel (controller)
- Multimedia -
Xtreme sound PCI audio
- Bus Adapters -
silicon image SiI 3112 SATA link controller
Intel 82801 DB/DBM USB Enhanced host controller
Intel 82801 DB/DBM USB universal host controller - 24C2
Intel 82801 DB/DBM USB universal host controller - 24C4
Intel 82801 DB/DBM USB universal host controller - 24C7

. . . so. I'll be the first to say that i don't know what half that stuff means, or how relevant any of it is to the problem i'm having. I can install plug 'n play devices and such, but that's about the extent of my computer maintinence expertise. but i figured, better too much detail than too little, right?

So i guess my question is as follows:
a. how/where do i find the drivers for the Multimedia Audio Controller?
like i said, i got the computer refurbished, so i don't have a system restore disk or the like.
b. what can i do the get the audio working again (maybe not the right word, it never worked in the first place?) i've tried re-installing the card multiple times. music storage was half the reason i got this thing in the first place... please help, i'm dying here. any assistance or suggestions you have would be most appreciated.