Which type of joystick is this? The USB type should be no problem. If it plugs into the gameport this could conflict with your sound card. I can only suggest you visit the manufacturers' sites & make sure you have the latest drivers for both the sound card & joystick installed.

Hi,
I had this problem when I first installed CFS and added the joystick afterwards.  Because I had never seen the videos I thought nothing of it.

Recently  I was forced to reinstal due to a hard drive fault.  The second time I installed CFS, the joystick driver was already installed, and the videos/instruction routine worked perfectly.

I don't know wether it would work, for you, it may be pure flook, but try uninstalling CFS, then re-installing it.
Like I said, it seemed to work for me!

All the best,
Ken Attwood,
Cornwall UK, (NOT part of ENGLAND  )