Realtek AC97 Audio (Issue)

Hello,

I just wanted to know if there is any site where i can get drivers for the following motherboard: M848A by PC-Chips. It's pretty unusual and im finding it hard to find drivers for the devices connected to the motherboard. In particular i want a site where i can download drivers for my motherboard since i have re-installed the XP OS on my computer many times.

Also another problem i am having is regards to my soud driver which supports the Realtek AC97 Audio Driver (which i think it does because i've installed a driver for it and the sound works fine. (5.10.0.5830)

The problem i am facing is rather unusual, (i am running Windows XP service pack 3). If i was to play an mp3 track, i use VLC media player, it will play fine and i could hear the music with no problems. However if i mute the sound in volume control, i can still hear the music, Why is this?, its rather unusual for that to happen. Also if i use Windows Media Player the same problem would occur. Is there a driver conflict or have i not installed the correct drivers for my soundcard. It's rather confusing. Also when i have my earphones plugged in, the sound is maxed out in VLC Media player, yet its so low, if i go to volume control and attempt to move the bar up and down to increase and decrease the volume i do not notice any difference at all, what is the problem here?

I would be extremely greatful if someone helps me to resolve my issue, i'm looking forward to the comments, thanks in advance!

P.S it seems that "WAVE" is taking over the "master volume's" job.