Using headphones i want to direct sound to headphones instead of external speakers

You can get a set of speakers that has a headphone jack on front (it will shut off the speakers when headphones are in) or you can unplug the speakers and plug in the head phones. Some PCs have a red and green jack in front - plug in headphones to the green, you should have the speakers shut off till you unplug. All else fails they make a headphone/mic extender that sits like a hockey puck on the desk, has cables to the mic and speaker jacks on back of the PC and on the puck part has a jack for speakers, mic and headphone - some switched manually by you, some switch when the headphones plug in. If you had posted the model I could see if your machine has front red and green jacks.