Download and install the latest drivers for your sound card. These are usually available from the manufacturer's website.

It could also be a conflict with the audio capabilities of your modem. You can disable the voice modem driver in Win 95’s Control Panel | Multimedia | Advanced |
Audio Device | Properties | Settings. Click on "Do not use audio features of this device." Or, remove the device entirely.

In Cakewalk you can test for playback by disabling Simultaneous Record and Playback, and by disabling any selection made under Options | MIDI Devices. This may
work because some drivers will not play audio and MIDI at the same time, or play no audio at all when Simultaneous Record and Playback is enabled.

After that, try some of the more generic fixes:

Be sure there are no IRQ, DMA, and Port Address conflicts in the system. Also, make sure you're not running any other applications in the background:

- Disable screen savers
- Remove all programs from the Windows StartUp folder (Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp)
- Open WIN.INI and if there is anything after the run= or load= lines, use a semi-colon to rem the line out (put a semi-colon in front of the run= and/or load= lines,
save the file, then restart Windows).
- Disable any kind of virus scanning program that might be running in the background Disable the Windows system sounds (Control Panel | Sounds. Select 'No
Sounds' in the Schemes drop-down list).

Finally, load a .WAV file or make a recording in Windows Sound Recorder. If you cannot record or play back audio in Sound Recorder, you won't be able to do so in
Cakewalk or any other audio application. Consult your computer or sound card vendor's technical support team for assistance.