No Sound Troubleshooting

Reader Question:
“Hi Wally, I am having problems with No Sound and wondering how to fix it?” - Nancy Y., United Kingdom

Before addressing any computer issue, I always recommend scanning and repairing any underlying problems affecting your PC health and performance:

Step 1 : Download PC Repair & Optimizer Tool (WinThruster for Win 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP and 2000 – Microsoft Gold Certified).
Step 2 : Click “Start Scan” to find Windows registry issues that could be causing PC problems.
Step 3 : Click “Repair All” to fix all issues.

Setting up weekly (or daily) automatic scans will help prevent system problems and keep your PC running fast and trouble-free.

Wally’s Answer:

Overview of No Sound

Computers are used for a number of different tasks including work, entertainment, and research. Sometimes several tasks can be done simultaneously. For instance, many people like to listen to music on the computer while they surf the Internet or write a paper.

One part of the computer experience few people pay conscious attention to is the audio capabilities. Most laptops have built-in sound cards and speakers. Desktops often have only a very basic speaker that produces poor quality sound, thus requiring users to purchase external powered speakers and better sound cards to improve the listening experience.

Both laptops and desktops normally have an audio port that can be used to support these external powered speakers or headphones. Many users buy high-performance sound cards for their desktop machines. These greatly enhance the sound quality of games, music, and videos.

Internet radio, streaming video, Internet TV, DVDs, CDs, and games are popular entertainment activities many people use their computers for on a regular basis. As more and more people are using their computers as entertainment centers, the sale of sound cards is growing.

Thus, when there is no sound, it can be quite frustrating to figure out the cause of the problem.

What Problems are Associated with No Sound?

Often there are no error messages when a user discovers there is no sound being produced by their computer. The most common cause of “no sounds” is inadvertently muting the audio.

Some applications and websites have volume controls built-in and making adjustments to the audio on the website or application will not affect the sound produced by other applications or websites.

If the volume control on the web site or application isn’t set very low or completely muted, users can check the computers main volume by double-clicking on the speaker icon next to the digital clock on the lower right side of the monitor (Windows system tray).

Some keyboards also have buttons for volume control, and these will affect the audio of all applications on the computer. Accidentally hitting the mute button on these keyboards, or having the volume turned all the way down, can also be causes of “no sound”.

If none of the volume controls restore sound, the audio driver may be experiencing a problem. This can be checked in the Device Manager interface. Double-clicking on the audio mixer will open the properties window. In the middle of the screen, a window that will display a message regarding any problems the drive may be experiencing.

They often include a code number. Searching the Internet with the code number will frequently locate an article with a method for restoring the sound to the computer. Sometimes, an outdated device driver will be the cause, and a sound card driver update may be necessary.

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Is Your PC Healthy?

I always recommend to my readers to regularly use a trusted registry cleaner and optimizer such as WinThruster or CCleaner. Many problems that you encounter can be attributed to a corrupt and bloated registry.

Happy Computing!

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About the Author

Wally PhillipsWindows Wally is a helpful guy. It’s just in his nature. It’s why he started a blog in the first place. He heard over and over how hard it was to find simple, plain-English solutions to Windows troubleshooting problems on the Internet. Enter: Windows Wally. Ask away, and he will answer.