Sound card driver will not install

Hi and thanks for any advice,

I have recently reassembled my computer. The problem I have is that when I install the sound card into the pci slot it shows up under 'other devices' in the device manager. The problem is that when i run the driver setup program it tells me to install the sound card.

So the driver does not recognise there is a soundcard there. The error message is 'Please plug in c-media PCI audio'. But the pci audio card is plugged in and is showing under 'other devices' as 'audio controller'

I have tried 2 sound cards now , the original sound blaster 24 live i had and I went out and bought another cheap pci soundcard just in case but I get the same error... the driver refusing to see the card. I have no reason to think either card is broken and the drivers are the ones shipped with the cards.

I am running windows xp sp3. On a side not I can get the on board ASUS P5QC realtek sound to work fine. The only setting in the BIOS is disable onboard sound which I have done, as well as uninstalling the realtek driver,before trying the PCI cards.

I don't usually have a problem with drivers and cards and have built several machines in the past, but this has got me totally frustrated and at a total loss ! If any additional info is needed I can provide.

Please advise if you have had a similar problem and have worked around it with a fresh windows install.

Thanks.

Thanks for the advice, I've tried another slot already and still no joy. Oneof the cards is brand new so its not dirty and seems to slot in fine. On the asus board there is only 2 slots for pci and neither work.

With this c-media , do I need a driver for c-media as well as a driver for the card ? Ive never had to install a c-media driver before so I'm a little puzzled.

Any more ideas appreciated ^^