As queries come in to FAQ, I file them in folders that I have organized according to subject matter.

When it comes time to write a column, I dip in and out of the folders, looking for questions that meet two criteria: Will they give the column diversity and, more important, am I going to be able to come close to answering them?

One folder I approach with dread is the one labeled Peripherals -- Sound. Such problems are among the most confusing, hard-to-solve, and annoying riddles presented by computers.

Getting sounds out of a computer was not something the manufacturers of the first PCs thought important. PC makers regarded the machines as little more than glorified calculators.

It took the advent of the sound card and the CD-ROM player to give the computer its voice and computer users fits when the only thing the speakers will emit is a steady hiss.

Should this happen to you, here are some things to consider: Check and double-check connections. Make sure the speakers are properly connected to each other and that all "in" and "out" lines run to the right jacks on the PC's sound card. It is all too easy to plug the "out" line to the microphone jack, for example.

Did the problem arise after you installed a new CD-ROM? You may not have connected the player to the sound card.

Did it arise after you installed a new sound card? Confirm that the card is sitting snugly in its slot. Apply gentle pressure to the card's front, middle and back to ensure a proper fit.

Check sound-card-related commands in your Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files. The commands may be wrong or may have been altered. Because the commands refer to the drivers needed to orchestrate the movement of sound from program to card to speakers, satisfy yourself that these crucial files are on your hard drive. They may have been accidentally erased. If they are there, think about recopying them from an installation diskette or CD because they may have been corrupted.

You may have a no-name-bare-basics sound card unable to live up to the audio challenges presented by some multimedia programs.

Do a little research on sound cards, then rip yours out and replace it with a brand and model experts recommend.

If you have a good sound card, visit the Web site maintained by its manufacturer. Chances are good you will find troubleshooting advice there.

Better yet, you will probably find updated drivers likely to improve the sound card's performance.

If a specific game or multimedia program seems to have trouble producing sound, visit the vendor's site. Again, you may find advice that relates directly to your problem.

Do some audio CDs work wonderfully, but others do not?

You may need to upgrade the CD drive's internal programming commands, often stored as read-only memory.

On the Web site maintained by the CD player's manufacturer, you may find the program -- it is called firmware -- you need to flash updated programming into the CD.

If you have several programs that produce sound, but the problem occurs in only one program, you may have configured the program incorrectly.

Go through the program's options or preferences menu carefully. Move your lips while reading the choices, if you have to, to increase the chances that you will spot the erroneous entry. If everything is as it should be, you might be laboring with a clobbered file crucial to reproducing the program's sounds. Reinstall the program.

If the problem is cropping up in several programs, go to Multimedia section of Windows' Control Panel.

After you have clicked on the Multimedia icon, look in both the Playback and Recording boxes in the window that opens. Both have a Preferred Devices section.

Is your sound card listed in both places? Is the volume properly set in both sections?

If the settings are correct -- or corrected -- leave the Control Panel, go to Start, then Programs and Accessories.

Under Accessories choose Multimedia (the choice may be Entertainment on your computer). Choose Volume Control.

In the window that opens, make sure that Mute under Volume Control Wave Balance and Midi Balance is not checked. Set the slider at the halfway point, or higher if you like things loud.

You may have a conflict between your sound card and another device. Run Windows' Troubleshooting wizard.

You'll find the wizard by going to Help, then Troubleshooting. From the list of troubleshooting options, choose Hardware Conflicts, then follow the step-by-step directions