Lost audio on my PC - FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ajaxlepinski]

About two weeks ago, I got the Blue Screen of Death on my PC but, I was able to reinstall Windows - kept my files but lost a bunch of apps and my audio.

No Output Device Found
No Input Device Found
Red X next to the speaker icon in the lower right corner
"Sound, video and game controllers" - missing from Device Manager

I downloaded and installed Realtek High Definition Audio Driver... still no audio but, the "Sound, video and game controllers" is back.
Did the Add Legacy Hardware in Action Tab of Device Manger... nada.
Did all the fixes suggested online - still no audio.

Trouble Shoot Sound Problems comes up with two things:
1) No issue
2) We found an issue, restart your computer to implement... does nothing.


Any suggestions would be appreciated.... I can't afford a new computer right now.

[itchyfingers]

What?



Looking forward to the NCD, dude...

[GuitarBilly]

hmmm... I haven't used Windows built in audio in a long time.

What Windows version is it?

[amused]

have you tried deleting the device in device manager
both "audio inputs and outputs" and "sound, video and game controllers"
then right click "scan for hardware changes"

might work

[ajaxlepinski]

hmmm... I haven't used Windows built in audio in a long time.

What Windows version is it?

The computer was a Windows 7, updated to Windows 10.
I got the Blue Screen of Death last October but, was not able to fix it myself. The local shop installed a new hard drive and was able to save my data.
Everthing was working fine until two weeks ago.

I read that, Microsoft's mid-May update # KB4556799 for Windows 10, has caused problems, including Blue Screen of Death, deleted data, performance issues and broken audio.
I suspect this is what crashed my computer. I deleted KB4556799, reinstalled Realtec Audio driver and still nothing.

[ajaxlepinski]

have you tried deleting the device in device manager
both "audio inputs and outputs" and "sound, video and game controllers"
then right click "scan for hardware changes"

might work

Thanks for the reply - it is appreciated!
Yup... did that.

[Devin]

If you right-click the little speaker volume icon in the lower right corner of your screen (in the hidden icons area) and then click Open Sound Settings, what is listed as your Output device on that screen?

[ajaxlepinski]

What?



Looking forward to the NCD, dude...

Thanks Itchy!
Replacing the PC won't be too bad.
I use the PC to surf the web, Excel and Microsoft Office, play solitaire and for household record keeping. It's annoying not having audio especially, when playing YouTube "how to" vids.
The Mac, that I use for recording, is working fine.

[ajaxlepinski]

If you right-click the little speaker volume icon in the lower right corner of your screen (in the hidden icons area) and then click Open Sound Settings, what is listed as your Output device on that screen?

Hey Devin - thanks for checking in!!!

Output (and Input) Device Not Found

[Devin]

It's possible the audio device died (built in to the motherboard I presume?)

Don't you have an external audio interface you can use instead?

[GuitarBilly]

Go to "Control Panel" - > "Sound" and right click to select "Show Disabled Devices" see if the device is there and disabled. If it is, enable it.

[ajaxlepinski]

It's possible the audio device died (built in to the motherboard I presume?)

Don't you have an external audio interface you can use instead?

That's what I'm thinking. The computer is 6 years old... the planned obsolescence chip kicked in.
I have an a/d converter hooked up to my iMac that I use for recording.... It's prolly just time to get a new PC.

[ajaxlepinski]

Go to "Control Panel" - > "Sound" and right click to select "Show Disabled Devices" see if the device is there and disabled. If it is, enable it.

That's one thing I haven't tried! I'll give it a shot tonight, when I get home from work.

[Pepi]

Switch to Linux Mint

[ajaxlepinski]

Switch to Linux Mint

Not sure if you're kidding? But, I'm willing to try almost anything.
Can it run Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)?

[clipless bumper]

This is a known issue - here is a seven step article - make sure you have tried all of these (I know you have done most of them at least already)

audio article

[ajaxlepinski]

Thanks Mamby! I'll try a few of those tonight.

[ajaxlepinski]

Go to "Control Panel" - > "Sound" and right click to select "Show Disabled Devices" see if the device is there and disabled. If it is, enable it.

Control Panel > Sound....
"No audio devices are installed"

This is after I installed the Realtek Hi Definition Audio Driver.

[GuitarBilly]

I mean the next easy solution would be to get an interface for it.
You can get a Behringer UM2 for 50 bucks and it will do the job.

[ajaxlepinski]

FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO FUCKING HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to the article that Clipless posted. None of the options worked.... HOWEVER, that page had a link to another article called, "The Best Free Windows 10 Repair Tools to Fix Any Problem".... so, I checked it out. WTF, why not?
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-to ... indows-10/

I downloaded iObit's Driver Booster 7 and let it scan my PC... it found 9 outdated drivers, two of which, were Audio System drivers and they were indicated as being missing or faulty.
I figured, lets let it update all 9 drivers... BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!!
Luckily, Driver Booster created a restore point and Windows was able to do the restore and I was back to square one... , no audio but, everything else works.

Tried it again... this time, instead of running all 9 updates, I only ran the two audio updates... after the first update the red X on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of my desktop disappeared and I was full of hope and happiness!!!!
Then, it ran the second audio update and BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!!!
Got lucky again and Windows used the Driver Booster restore point to put me back to square one, no audio but, everything else works.

FINALLY, I let Driver Booster update just the first Audio Driver and BAM!!! FIXED, BACK IN BUSINESS AND GOOD TO GO!!!!
To double check, I listened to Mr. Butternuts, Booze Fueled and Loose Stooled video... what an awesome sound!!!

Thanks Mamby for the link that led me to the fix!!!!

[ajaxlepinski]

Screenshot from Driver Booster.
This is what it says AFTER the fix was completed. Down to only 8 bad drivers but, it's working!!!! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!!
The item listed as "Faulty" is going to remain faulty... updating it gave me a blue screen of death.

I wish I had taken a screen shot before it made the fix so you could see the name of the device was causing the trouble.
I'm sure that my PC has old system drivers from 2013 and Windows 7 that are still required.
After updating to Windows 10, newer updates may not be compatible with my old computer. It's only a matter of time before I get another update that will fuck things up again.
Time to back everything up to a flash drive and shop for a new PC.

[Pepi]

Better scan you system real good for Malware or a virus

[Marc G]

glad you got it sorted out..... nothing worse than your computer suddenly crapping out on you like that.....

That Driver Booster looks like a killer utility, will have to look in to it.

[exafro]

I generally like windows 10 but those auto updates have a tendency to break things. I've had to reinstall drivers for my FireWire card multiple times. A few service packs ago I had to roll back an update because it wasn't compatible with my wifi card. It can be annoying because you can only pause them for a certain amount of time.

[Devin]

I generally like windows 10 but those auto updates have a tendency to break things.

Big truth


Glad you got it fixed Ajax, but the multiple BSOD's are a bit disconcerting. Hopefully it'll behave now