Certain motherboard based sound chipsets do not report having a hardware sound buffer, and crash with certain games, e.g. Grand theft auto.
To remedy the problem it is possible to change the level of sound acceleration:
Click on Start and choose run, then type: DXDIAG Press ok, Select the sound tab and move the sound acceleration slider bar to Basic Acceleration.
Click the test directsound button and click yes to after each sound is heard.
After a number of tests, you will receive a prompt that directx will run with a software buffer.
Press OK and run the game again.
Video:
Right click on the desktop, properties, advanced, troubleshot tab, adjust the hardware accelaration from here.