The sound on the computer is poor. Reasons for no sound on PC

Good afternoon!

Folk wisdom: we often begin to appreciate the most banal things when we are deprived of them...

This is how it is with sound, while it is on the computer, it is not given due importance, but when there is no sound, it is a tragedy, because you will no longer watch a film or listen to music! In general, this can happen for a variety of reasons: for example, after reinstalling Windows, changing speakers, updating drivers, etc.

Actually, in this article I want to give all the most common reasons for the lack of sound, for each of them I will give a solution, screenshots (what to do and where to click ✔). In the vast majority of cases, the sound can be restored on your own, without the help of a specialist. (thanks to which you can save a pretty penny!).

So, let's get straight to the point...

Note!

If the sound on your PC is too quiet (that is, it is there, just weak!), I recommend that you first read this article:

Why there may be no sound on your computer/laptop

All reasons for the lack of sound are given in author's order, depending on their "popularity".

Important!

Windows has a special wizard that can eliminate many of the reasons that disable normal sound. Therefore, before you deal with the problem yourself, I recommend running it at least once.

To do this, simply right-click on sound tray icon- and select "". Next, the wizard will launch - just follow its instructions.

A few words about audio connectors...

I would recommend starting the search for the reason for the lack of sound on the computer by checking the audio connectors (especially if you just bought a new PC, changed the speakers, disassembled the system unit, or did something else with the device).

In general, there are usually three audio connectors on classic system units:

1. input (in) – it is marked in blue. Used to connect a device that can transmit sound to a computer: TV tuner, player, etc.;
2. output (out) is usually green. Serves to output sound; speakers, headphones, etc. are connected to it;
3. microphone (pink or red). I think there is nothing to comment here...

I’ll also add that there can be 6 connectors (four-channel audio mode)! In this case, a subwoofer is connected to the orange port.

So, often many users in a hurry connect speakers to the wrong connector. Of course, if this is so, then there will be no sound! In addition, I provided a photo (see above) in which the connectors are clearly highlighted, but this is not the case on all PCs (it’s good if there is a barely noticeable engraving).

Regarding laptops(and in general, newer equipment): Please note that headset jacks are becoming more common these days. They differ in that both speakers (headphones) and a microphone are connected to one input.

marked special icon (headphones with microphone, see photo below).

I would like to note that if you connect regular headphones (or speakers) to the headset jack, most likely there will be no sound*!

If you have a similar connector, then there are two outputs:

• or use special headphones (supporting a headset jack);
• or purchase special adapter (sold in all computer stores).

Help!

What to do if you only have one input for headphones and microphone -

Incorrect sound settings in Windows

I can say from my experience that this is one of the most common reasons (along with the previous one), which causes sound to disappear in Windows. No matter how trivial it may be, I recommend starting to restore your computer’s functionality by checking the volume settings.

1) First, pay attention to the tray: next to the clock it shows sound icon (example - ). If you click on it, you can find out the volume level (and whether the sound is completely turned off!). Check this moment.

By the way, a good indicator is that when you increase the volume above ~50%, you will hear a characteristic hiss in the speakers or headphones. (Example below in the screenshot).

2) Secondly, check the settings in volume mixer on Windows. This is a special thing that allows you to adjust the sound in various applications: for example, you can completely turn down the sound in the browser, and raise the sound in the audio player to full volume! In some cases, you can’t go anywhere without it...

To open it, use the volume icon in the tray: just right-click on it, and then select from the menu that opens.

3) Incorrect audio device selected default. This is a very common reason for the lack of sound; it usually occurs after reinstalling Windows (after restoring it), after changing or connecting additional speakers or headphones. The fact is that Windows sends sound to a specific device, which is specified in the settings.

If the wrong device is specified– then you won’t hear the sound, because it simply won’t be filed against him (explained chaotically, but I think it’s clear).

To make sure and check whether the device is selected correctly, go to and open the " tab Sound" (first open the “Hardware and Sound” section, see screenshot below).

Next, please note: in your tab " Playback "There may be several audio devices. If you don’t know which one to choose, try each of them in turn (it is advisable to play some melody before doing this).

Bends in wires and plugs

This is a real scourge of many headphones and speakers (especially Chinese ones, which use very thin wires that break in any “breeze” 😡).

In any case, make sure that everything is in order with your speakers: the LED is on, when you turn up the volume, they begin to hiss slightly (I observed this effect in almost all speakers/speakers).

By the way, to double-check, the speakers can also be connected to another computer (laptop, TV).

Audio driver problem

Drivers are the boss of everything ✌! Without the correct driver, no device will work normally.

If your system does not have an audio driver (or it began to conflict, was deleted or damaged)– then your computer will become “dumb”. To check the driver's operation, you need to go to to device manager .

IN AWESOME!

Please note that you can also turn off the sound in the audio driver settings! An example is shown in the screenshot below. To find your sound driver settings, go to Windows control panel(in the "Equipment and Sound" section) , or use tray icon .

Windows Audio service does not work

Windows has dozens of all kinds of services: among them there is one that is responsible for sound - it is called Windows Audio. Actually, it's usually on (it may be turned off in cases of any failures, virus infection of the PC, if someone decided to make a joke on you, and when installing all kinds of Windows builds).

To check if it is enabled, press the button combination Win+R and enter services.msc, press Enter(example in the screenshot below).

• the service should be running ( status: running, see screenshot below);
• startup type should be set to " automatically". If this is not the case, correct the settings, save them, and restart your computer (laptop).

Checking Windows Audio Service / Clickable

No codecs installed

In certain cases, those responsible for the lack of sound may be codecs. I especially recommend paying attention to this if you lose image or sound when playing multimedia files (music, movies, videos, etc.).

It often happens that when watching a video: either there is sound, but no video (just a black screen), or there is a picture (video), but no sound (the second option, however, is less common).

Sound disabled in BIOS/UEFI

Note. BIOS is a set of firmware that allows Windows to interact with hardware.

In the BIOS settings (or its newer UEFI version) you can disable the sound card (of course, then there will be no sound on the PC). In general, it is usually enabled in the BIOS by default, and it can be disabled in extremely rare cases:

• when you accidentally turned it off yourself due to careless BIOS settings;
• when setting some default settings (some BIOS versions have special modes that allow you to squeeze out maximum performance - during their operation it is possible to disable additional devices);
• system failure...

To avoid repetition, I will cite a couple of articles here:

1. How to enter BIOS - . This is the first thing you need to do before changing BIOS settings.
2. Keys to enter BIOS (large table) -

You need to find additional settings in the BIOS: something like Advanced, Audio, Device, etc.. You can simply go through all the tabs one by one, looking into each one, but without changing anything.

The final goal is to find the line in which the audio is turned on/off (i.e. the sound card). It is called differently (depending on the BIOS version), for example, High Definition Audio, HD Audio Controller, etc.

Important so that the mode opposite the line with the audio controller is:

• Enabled– i.e. enabled, means the sound card is working;
• Auto– this means the card will be launched automatically, in auto mode.

If the sound card is in Disabled mode, it is turned off and inactive.

The sound card is included in the BIOS (Enabled!)

Important!

After you change the setting, do not forget to save the settings in the BIOS before restarting the PC. Usually this can be done using the button F10(Save and Exit - save and exit).

The virus has changed the volume settings

“Viruses can do anything,” say novice users!

Actually, not everything, but a lot. They can definitely turn off the sound (or ruin it). For example, they can corrupt driver files, causing a conflict and causing the sound to stop working (viruses can also corrupt audio and video codecs, as a result of which the video will stop playing normally).

Important!

Windows OS Recovery

In some cases, you can try to restore sound using the Windows recovery tool (if you have checkpoints). This will help if:

• you had sound a couple of days ago, and then you installed some program and it disappeared;
• updated the drivers, rebooted the PC and there was no sound;
• have been infected with viruses;
• accidentally deleted something or changed some settings in Windows, etc.

Those. It makes sense to use recovery if you have a software error!

Actions in order:

Sound card failure

In general, a sound card is a fairly reliable device. (by and large). At least they fail much less often than video cards (if you don’t take into account unsuccessful models and low-quality Chinese copies).

A sound card becomes unusable most often due to:

• lightning strike (although only older people are afraid of this, it is true. Especially if your network is not grounded);
• welding: if your neighbor is a welder and often welds something, then you are not very lucky... The fact is that during welding there are sharp surges in electricity - this has a very detrimental effect on the equipment. Simple advice: purchase normal quality UPS (+ surge protector to remove network spikes once and for all).
• low quality power supply.

How to find out if your sound card is burned out:

• if it burns in your presence, you will most likely smell a burning smell, and there may be a slight “smoke”;
• try opening the BIOS - if it is not detected there (and you do not see its name) - then this is a bad sign, and it usually indicates that the sound card is not connected or is faulty;
• You can also use it - if the dispatcher does not see the sound card at all, then there is a high probability that the card is faulty. This can be reliably confirmed/refuted at the service center (or if you connect the card to another PC).

Simple and fast solution

I should note that there are now inexpensive external sound cards on sale that connect to a USB port. They look like a flash drive, and some of them are comparable in size (or quite a bit larger). Such a sound card can be easily connected to any computer and laptop and get high quality sound (many of them produce better sound than the built-in sound card).

Additions in the comments are welcome...

The article will be updated as various sound problems are resolved.

The reason for the loss of sound may lie in both software and hardware. If the problem is in the hardware, it means that some component has failed.

If the reason for the loss of sound lies in the software environment, then something needs to be corrected either in the system or in individual programs.

If things are bad with the software part, then no matter how high-quality your components are, there will still be no sound. Many people also ask questions on the Internet such as why the sound in headphones on a computer does not work. The causes and solutions for both speakers and headphones are almost the same.

First check

Before taking your computer for repair, you need to check the cause of the breakdown. If it is software, then, in principle, you can solve it yourself.

Volume control

The volume control can be either software or hardware. The software is located in the lower right corner of the screen. If you want there to be sound, then the speaker image should not be crossed out, and the slider should not be at the very bottom. You can see how it shouldn't be in the picture below.

The sound can be turned off not only in the system, but also on the speakers. There are a lot of models that have a sound adjustment slider (like on headphones for a computer). You can see a similar slider in the picture below.

The solution to the problem is simply simple. You just need to turn up the sound both on the speakers and in Windows XP or another operating system.

Physical connection of audio output devices

The sound may be lost due to the fact that the speakers or headphones are not connected to the network or computer. Check that the plug is inserted into the audio output of the personal computer, and the plug from the speakers is inserted into the socket.

If the tips listed above do not help, and in 90% of cases they do, we advise you to check the functionality of the speakers with other laptops or computers. If you still can’t reproduce something through them, then it’s time for the speakers to either be scrapped or repaired. It's up to you to decide.

Configuring Audio Settings

A Windows 7 user can get to the audio settings in several ways, but we will describe the simplest one below.

1. go to “Start”;
2. select “Settings”;
3. go to the “Control Panel”;
4. select the “Sound” tab.

After you do the above, a window will appear on the screen containing a list of audio devices. The photo below shows only one device; in your case there may be several.

If the device is working correctly, you will know this by the green check mark and the words “Working” next to it. Otherwise, you need to reinstall the device drivers

For a Windows XP user, the procedure is as follows:

If everything in the above listed settings is correct, you did everything according to the instructions, but the sound did not appear, then read the article further.

Is the Windows Audio service running?

Finding the Windows Audio service is quite difficult even for Windows 8 users.

Go through the sections in this order:

If everything is as in the photo above, that is, the service is “Working” and is in “Auto” mode, but the sound still does not work, then this is not the problem. If something is wrong, then you need to turn it on. To do this, right-click on Windows Audio and click “Properties”.

There we set the following parameters:

Setting in BIOS

If you tried all of the above, but still haven’t figured out why the sound disappeared, then most likely the problem lies in the BIOS settings, that is, somehow the sound card was turned off directly in the motherboard settings. What to do next? Everything is described below.

Video: No sound on the computer

First, you need to go into this BIOS. This is done like this:

Speaker problem

If all of the above did not help, then the problem is 100% not software, that is, either the speakers or the sound card are broken. Check if they are enabled. In most cases, the indicator should be lit to indicate that the speakers are on.

As mentioned above, try connecting the speakers to another computer. If sound does not play back, it means the speakers are broken.

Sound driver

The lack of a sound driver is also a common reason for the loss of sound on a computer.

In order to check the relevance of the drivers and the ability to update them, you need to:

If the audio device driver is installed correctly, you won't notice anything special there.

If there is an exclamation mark next to the audio device, it means there are either no drivers at all, or they do not work correctly. Either search the Internet for your driver, or right-click on it and update.

Sound card hardware failure

If after reinstalling the drivers the sound still does not appear, then the problem is in the sound card itself. Most likely, it simply malfunctioned. In order not to waste money on a new board, we recommend consulting with a specialist. He will inspect your computer and tell you you need to buy a new one, or the old one is still usable.

Replacing the sound card should also be done by a specialist, since most likely you do not have the necessary equipment for this.

As you can see, problems with sound are most often software rather than hardware. If you can’t get the sound back on your own, contact a specialist.

Do not try to change the sound card yourself; you may damage the motherboard, which is ten times more expensive than the audio card. But still, in 90% of cases the failure is software; the tips listed above should help.

The computer has long ceased to be solely a device for work and calculations. Many users use it for entertainment purposes: watching movies, listening to music, playing games. In addition, using a PC you can communicate with other users and study. And some users work better with musical accompaniment. But when using a computer, you may encounter a problem such as lack of sound. Let's figure out what can cause it and how to solve it on a laptop or desktop PC with Windows 7.

Loss of sound on a PC can be caused by various circumstances, but they can all be divided into 4 groups:

• Acoustic system (speakers, headphones, etc.);
• PC hardware;
• Operating system;
• Applications that play sound.

The last group of factors will not be considered in this article, since this is a problem of a specific program, and not of the system as a whole. We will focus on solving complex sound problems.

In addition, it should be noted that the sound may disappear, both due to various breakdowns and failures, and due to incorrect settings of working components.

Method 1: Speaker system malfunctions

One of the common reasons why a computer does not play sound is problems with connected acoustics (headphones, speakers, etc.).

1. First of all, perform the following verification:
   • Is the speaker system connected to the computer correctly?
   • whether the plug is included in the power supply (if such a possibility is provided);
   • whether the sound device itself is turned on;
   • Is the volume control on the acoustics set to position “0”.
2. If possible, check the functionality of the speaker system on another device. If you are using a laptop with headphones or speakers connected, check how the sound is reproduced through the built-in speakers of this computer device.
3. If the result is negative and the speaker system does not work, then you need to contact a qualified technician or simply replace it with a new one. If it reproduces sound normally on other devices, then the problem is not acoustics and we move on to the next options for solving the problem.

Method 2: System Tray Icon

Before looking for faults in the system, it makes sense to check whether the sound on the computer is turned off using standard tools.

But a situation is possible when the crossed out circle is missing, but there is still no sound.

There is also an option when at the same time there is an icon in the form of a crossed out circle and the volume control is turned all the way down. In this case, you need to alternately carry out both of the above manipulations.

Method 3: drivers

Sometimes, missing sound on a PC can be caused by a driver issue. They may be installed incorrectly or missing altogether. Of course, it's best to reinstall the driver from the disk that came with the sound card installed on your computer. To do this, you need to insert the disc into the drive and, after starting it, follow the recommendations that appear on the screen. But if for some reason you don’t have a disk, then we adhere to the following recommendations.

1. Click "Start". Next, move to "Control Panel".



2. Navigate "System and Security".



3. Further in the section "System" go to subsection "Device Manager".

   

   You can also go to Device Manager by entering the command in the tool field "Run". Calling up the window "Run" (Win+R). Enter the command:

   Click "OK".



4. The Device Manager window opens. Click on the category name "Sound, video and gaming devices".



5. A list will appear containing the name of the sound card that is built into your PC. Right-click on it and select from the list "Update drivers...".



6. A window opens that offers you a choice of how to update the driver: perform an automatic search on the Internet or specify the path to a pre-downloaded driver located on the PC’s hard drive. Choose an option "Automatically search for updated drivers".



7. The process of automatically searching for drivers on the Internet begins.



8. If updates are found, they can be installed immediately.

If the computer fails to detect updates automatically, you can search for drivers manually via the Internet.

1. To do this, simply open your browser and enter the name of the sound card installed on your computer into a search engine. Then, from the search results, go to the sound card manufacturer’s web resource and download the necessary updates to your PC.

   

   If there is an exclamation mark next to the name of the audio equipment in Device Manager, this means that it is not working correctly.

   
   

   Method 4: Enable the service

   There may be no sound on the computer because the service responsible for playing it is disabled. Let's find out how to enable it on Windows 7.

   1. In order to check the functionality of the service and, if necessary, enable it, you should go to the Service Manager. To do this, click "Start". Next click "Control Panel".

   

   2. In the window that opens, click "System and Security".

   

   3. Next, go to the point "Administration".

   

   4. A list of tools is revealed. Choose a name "Services".

      

      There is another way to open the Service Manager. Dial Win+R. A window will open "Run". Enter:

      Click "OK".

   

   5. In the list that opens, find the component called "Windows Audio". If in the field "Startup type" worth the value "Disabled", not "Works", this means that the reason for the lack of sound lies precisely in stopping the service.

   

   6. Double-click on the component name to go to its properties.

   

   7. In the window that opens, in the section "General" make sure that in the field "Startup type" there was definitely an option "Automatically". If a different value is set there, then click on the field and select the required option from the drop-down list. If you do not do this, then after restarting the computer you will notice that the sound disappears again and you will have to start the service manually again. Next, click on the button "OK".

   

   8. After returning to Service Manager, re-select "Windows Audio" and in the left part of the window click on "Run".

   

   9. The service startup process is in progress.

   

   10. After this, the service will start working, as indicated by the attribute "Works" in the field "State". Please also note that in the field "Startup type" value was set "Automatically".

   

   After completing these steps, sound should appear on the computer.

   Method 5: Check for viruses

   One of the reasons why sound does not play on your computer may be a virus infection.

   As practice shows, if a virus has already entered the computer, then scanning the system with a standard antivirus is ineffective. In this case, a special anti-virus utility with scanning and disinfection functions, for example, can help. Moreover, it is better to scan from another device, having previously connected it to the PC that is suspected of being infected. As a last resort, if it is not possible to scan from another device, use removable media to perform the procedure.

   

   During the scanning procedure, follow the recommendations that the antivirus utility will give.

   Even if it is possible to successfully eliminate the malicious code, sound restoration is not yet guaranteed, since the virus could damage drivers or important system files. In this case, it is necessary to perform the procedure of reinstalling the drivers, and also, if necessary, perform a system restore.

   Method 6: Recovery and reinstallation of the OS

   If none of the described methods gave a positive result and you are sure that the cause of the problem is not acoustics, it makes sense to restore the system from or roll back to the previously created one. It is important that the backup and restore point were created before the sound problems began, and not after.

   
   

   

   If you do not have a system restore point on your computer that was created before the sound failure occurred, and there is no removable media with a backup copy, then in this case you will have to reinstall the OS.

   Method 7: Sound card failure

   If you have carefully followed all the recommendations described above, but even after reinstalling the operating system, the sound does not appear, then in this case, with a high degree of probability, we can say that the problem lies in a malfunction of one of the computer’s hardware components. Most likely, the lack of sound is caused by a broken sound card.

   In this case, you must either seek help from a specialist or replace the faulty sound card yourself. Before replacing, you can first test the functionality of the computer's sound element by connecting it to another PC.

   As you can see, there are many reasons why sound may disappear on a computer running Windows 7. Before you start fixing the problem, it is better to find out the immediate cause. If this cannot be done right away, then try to apply various options for correcting the situation according to the algorithm given in this article, and then check if the sound appears. The most radical options (reinstalling the OS and replacing the sound card) should be done as a last resort if other methods have not helped.

All electrical and radio equipment is prone to failure. This happens for various reasons - the service life has expired, improper operation, poor build quality, spare parts, etc. Next, we will look at what to do if the speakers on the computer do not work, namely, the sound has disappeared, only the right (or left) speaker plays, or extraneous noise has appeared from inside.

Types of faults

If the sound of the speakers on the computer disappears, then the malfunctions may be of the following nature:

• software;
• hardware.

In the first case, the sound does not work due to the sound driver of your device. Perhaps, after installing the Windows operating system (it doesn’t matter XP, 7, 8 or 10), you did not download additional drivers responsible for sound playback. All you need to do is go to the official website of the company to which your sound card belongs and download the latest updates.

Hardware faults are much more complex and require some radio and electrical skills. In this case, you will need to use a multimeter to check the functionality of all internal elements of the audio devices in order to accurately determine why the speakers on the computer are not working.

Reasons for failure

The culprits that the sound on the speakers does not work if they are turned on may be the following factors:

1. Low cost of devices, which indicates poor build quality.
2. Speakers and other circuit elements wear out over time.
3. Failure to comply with operating requirements: air humidity and room temperature do not meet standards.
4. Damage to the insulation of conductors as a result of mechanical impact (the wire was accidentally broken).
5. Problems with your computer's sound card
6. Software problems

To determine the exact cause of the breakdown of the speakers on your computer, you need to carry out several simple measures and, using the method of elimination, find what exactly is not working.

Video: factory defects and how to eliminate them

Major breakdowns

Among the most popular computer speaker failures are:

Video repair instructions

So, we have looked at the main malfunctions of audio speakers. Now, I would like to provide you with tips for repairing speakers on your computer with your own hands:

1. If the sound suddenly disappears, check that everything is connected: the plug has not fallen out of the socket or the electrical plug has fallen out of the socket. There are frequent cases when the reason is precisely such a simple circuit break.
   
2. If music is playing, the light is on, but there is no sound, check the volume control, it may be at the very minimum (MIN mark).
   
3. To check whether the problem is in the speakers, connect headphones to the system unit. If it happens that the speakers on the computer do not play, but the headphones work, then the reason is definitely in the speaker system.
4. If only one speaker (right or left) is working, check the sound balance in the settings; it may be biased in favor of one of the elements. If you are sure that two devices are turned on, you can also move the plug (pull it out and reinsert it into the socket), because sometimes the cause is poor contact. You can adjust the balance in this window if you have Windows XP installed:
   
5. If you decide to replace the plug, while leaving the old wire, use only soldering. There should be no terminals or twists.
6. If noise occurs in the speakers, check the integrity of the speakers (they could be torn, as in the photo below), as well as the quality of the connection between the plug and the socket. Another likely reason is a failure in the system’s audio settings.
7. If you don’t have a multimeter, you can check the performance of the speaker with a regular 1.5 V battery - when you connect it, a characteristic rustling sound and a shift in the diaphragm should appear.
8. Another test option is to connect the audio system not to the computer, but, for example, to a DVD player or telephone. If sound appears, it means the problem is with the PC sound card.

That's all I wanted to tell you about why the speakers on your computer don't work and how to repair them yourself. We hope that now you can independently find the cause of the breakdown and eliminate it without much difficulty!

A somewhat complex sound subsystem is responsible for outputting sound from a computer to speakers or headphones. It is logical that there will be no sound if there is a problem at any stage along the sound path.

There are a great many sources of this problem: from a failure in Windows settings to problems with sound path devices. But before we talk about the reasons and how to fix it, let’s figure out what the computer sound system consists of.

Hardware and software

Audio card, A sound card or sound adapter is a device designed for processing audio data on a PC. Cards can be discrete (separate) or integrated, i.e. soldered onto the computer motherboard. The latter are the most common and are represented by two basic elements: an audio codec - a small microcircuit, and a host controller as part of the chipset (south bridge).

Operating system:

• A driver that controls the operation of a sound card. If there is no driver, there will be no sound on the computer either.
• Helper Utilities: Windows Sound and Audio Device Managers from Hardware Developers
• System Services: Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
• Codecs are a set of dynamic libraries necessary for playing sound files of certain formats. Some audio codecs are present in Windows natively, others are installed as needed. The absence of some codecs is manifested by the fact that individual music files will not be played on the computer, but in general the sound does not disappear. Example codecs: mp3, wma, aac, etc.

To make it easier to understand why the computer suddenly became “deaf and dumb”, let’s divide the reasons into 2 groups according to the time of occurrence:

• there has been no sound since the purchase or installation of the system;
• There was a sound, and then suddenly it disappeared.

If there was never a sound

In this case, the problems relate to the hardware component and driver installation.

Connecting the speakers correctly

First, make sure that the audio card is installed correctly and turned on. Look at the rear end of the system unit - the jacks for the microphone, speakers and headphones are on the motherboard or just below - if the sound card is connected as an expansion card. There are at least 2-3 such jacks (microphone input, line input and line output), and at most more than a dozen (on professional cards). On laptops there can be only one jack 3.5 socket.

In addition to the audio card, speakers or headphones can be the culprit for the lack of sound, so it is better to make sure that they are in order from the very beginning - check them on your phone, for example.

Check the speakers in each of the jacks, as the jacks may be reassigned in the Audio Device Manager settings, i.e. The sound output may not be on the green socket, but on the pink socket, for example. Let's see how their reassignment is done using the example of a utility from Realtek:

It should be noted that the ability to reassign sockets through the sound manager is not available everywhere. On those computers where it is not present, this is done by editing the registry.

Installing the sound driver

Look into Device Manager and check if the sound driver is installed. Without a driver, the sound card will be recognized as an unknown device. "Device Manager" and make sure it is there.

If you see a similar picture, but there is no audio card in the list of sound devices, this is your case. It can be found on the disk from the motherboard, and if there is no disk, download it from the website of the sound adapter manufacturer, when its model is known. If the driver is installed, you will see a similar picture:

The main audio device you have 90% of the time is the built-in Realtek High Definition Audio controller. The rest of the devices (AWEI, DL-Link and XMOS) are my external gadgets. If Realtek is displayed without question marks or exclamation marks, then the driver is available. If “Unknown device” is also present, then this is some other device.

How to find the right driver by motherboard model

It is best to use the program. If you act manually, then first you need to determine the “mother” model. One of the utilities for recognizing PC hardware will help with this, for example, free HWiNFO32\64 or CPU-Z. In HWiNFO, the necessary information is displayed in the “System Summary” window, in the “Motherboard” field.

In CPU-Z – on the “Mainboard” tab in the “Model” field

Having specified the data, we go to the manufacturer’s web resource, in my example it is Samsung. Using the search, we will find a section on the site dedicated to the device. Open the tab/page “Support” -> “Download”, go to the “Drivers” subsection, select your OS version from the list and download the sound card driver (Audio, Sound Card).

Now all that remains is to run the downloaded file and press the “Next” button during installation. When finished, you need to restart the computer. We are also looking for a driver for a laptop based on its model from the label. If the reason was in the drivers, then the sound should appear.

Incorrect sound driver loading

Sound loss sometimes occurs after incorrect installation of programs and Windows updates. The problem is solved by removing the audio card in Device Manager and then rebooting.

After selecting the “Delete” item, the system will offer to remove the drivers for this device “to the heap”; there is no need to mark it.

After restarting the PC, the sound card will appear in its place again. If it doesn’t help, then repeat the process with “uninstalling the driver program.” Also find and remove the driver installation from the standard Add or Remove Programs tool in Windows. Reboot and then install the drivers from scratch.

If you updated the driver and after that a problem appeared, then I recommend returning to the previous working version. To do this, in the device properties on the “Driver” tab, you need to click “Roll Back” and reboot.

Setting up the BIOS

Next you need to make sure that the card is not disabled. A sound-related parameter may be called: “Audio Controller”, “Azalia Audio”, “HDA Controller”, “OnChip Sound”, etc. with the words sound, audio, azalia, HDA. In different BIOS versions it is located in the “Advanced” or “Integrated Peripherals” tabs. To enable an audio device, you need to set it to Auto or Enabled.

Is the computer still “deaf and dumb”? It is possible that the sound card is simply faulty. There are many inexpensive discrete audio cards on sale with USB, PCI and PCI-E interfaces that can replace the built-in one if it fails.

There was sound before, but it disappeared

The reasons are related to incorrect actions of the user or installed programs. Also, after infection with viruses, there may be various problems, including lack of sound. The problem is created by the activity of the malicious program itself and the changes it makes to the system (modification of system files and the registry by viruses and Trojans is a common occurrence).

First, of course, you need. For this, the capabilities of an antivirus that works “normally” in the system are often sufficient. But if after treatment the sound does not appear, you will have to restore Windows.

Checking audio settings in Windows

Look at the Speaker icon in the taskbar notification area. It may be that the volume level is at zero or even turned off, i.e. crossed out. To fix this, click on the speaker and move the slider up. This sounds stupid, but nevertheless, this happens due to carelessness.

If the speaker is marked with a white cross in a red circle, you need to check whether the playback devices are disabled in Windows:

• Launch the Sound control panel applet or select Playback Devices from the speaker context menu, i.e. by right-clicking on it.
• If there is nothing in the Playback tab other than the message “No audio devices installed,” right-click there and check the box next to “Show disabled devices.” After this, the unused device must be turned on by selecting the appropriate command from its context menu:

Please note that the correct default audio output device must be selected. To set it, just click on it in the list and click on the “Default” button below. Try different ones. You especially need to go here to enable sound output. In addition, by clicking on the speaker marked with a cross, you can start diagnostics and auto-recovery of sound settings:

This built-in wizard also sometimes helps solve the problem.

If the sound still doesn’t appear, let’s check if audio services are disabled:

Defects in system files or registry keys

It will help to solve problems with files and the registry at once if a checkpoint was created before the sound disappeared. When there is no point or this function is disabled, you can try to fix the situation using the dism and sfc utilities.

To restore the system to working parameters, run (cmd.exe) and run two commands in turn:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

The commands take quite a long time to execute; after finishing the work you need to reboot. They check system files, and if they deviate from the original options, they are automatically restored from storage. During the recovery process, you may be asked for a Windows installation disk or flash drive.

Overclocking your computer and resetting the BIOS

Overclocking your computer can cause audio problems. If you or someone else has recently dabbled in overclocking the system bus, then you need to reduce the frequencies or reset the BIOS settings to default. To do this, you can use any of the following methods:

1. Go to BIOS Setup and on the Exit or Save & Exit tab, click Load Setup Defaults (Load Defaults BIOS, Load Safe-Fail Defaults, Load Defaults Settings, Set BIOS Default, Restore Defaults - the option names differ in different BIOS versions).

2. Find the RTC battery on the motherboard (on desktop computer boards this is a CR2032 “tablet”) and remove it from the socket for a while (15 - 30 minutes is usually enough). To speed up the reset, you can briefly short-circuit the socket terminals with the same battery.

3. Find the Clear CMOS jumper on the board (CLRTC, Clear RTC, CCMOS, etc. - again, the names are different on different boards) and briefly move it to 2 adjacent pins.

The second and third methods are performed only when the computer's power is completely disconnected from the outlet.

Why else might there be no sound?

If the jumpers on the motherboard, which are responsible for reassigning the sound output, are not installed or are positioned incorrectly, then there will be no sound! You need to carefully look at the instructions for the motherboard, the section regarding Audio, and check how the jumpers are actually positioned. In this case, the symptoms are as follows: the file is playing in the player, the volume is set correctly, but there is complete silence in the speakers.

If you are connecting to the front panel, it may simply not be connected to the board or connected incorrectly. There are two types of front panels: legacy AC’97 and HD Definition. Accordingly, if there is such a setting in the BIOS settings, then you need to select the type of your front panel (try both).

If the instructions seem too complicated or the problem was not solved, or when the situation repeats itself over and over again, the best thing to do is contact the service or write about your problem in the comments to the article.