Stereo sound through whole 5.1 speaker set - is it possible with WinXP or 7?

Solution 1:

As Skelly says, it would depend on your driver.

For me, it's this setting:

Solution 2:

Yes it's possible, though it might depend on your sound card drivers. I use a Creative X-Fi card and the Creative Control Panel app lists two faux surround modes for upmixing stereo: Stereo Surround and Stereo Xpand. If I remember correctly, the former option does what you need, it basically puts the stereo signal from the front L+R spakers in the rear L+R speakers too, I don't remember what happens to the center channel though, it's been a while since I've used a surround speaker set.

Check your driver controls for any similar-looking options.