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Problems with sound on a laptop: troubleshooting yourself. Where to start troubleshooting sound problems on your computer

If you encounter no sound on your computer, do not rush to immediately run to a service center; in most cases, the situation is easy to fix yourself.

can be divided into two parts.

  • 1. Hardware faults:
  • failure or incorrect connection of speakers and headphones;
  • audio card malfunction;
  • damage to electronic components of the motherboard;

BIOS firmware failure.

  • 2. Software glitches:
  • driver problems;
  • lack of necessary codecs for playing certain types of files;
  • incorrect configuration of equipment using the operating system;

viral infection.

Where to start troubleshooting a sound problem on your computer?

Before you start checking or setting up your sound card, click on the speaker icon, which is located in the notification area on the taskbar. Make sure the volume is not turned down to minimum.

Check that your audio devices are connected correctly. Make sure that the switch on the speakers themselves is in the "On" position and that the plug is inserted into an electrical outlet. Make sure the wires are intact. Check the device's functionality on another computer or laptop.

Right-click on the speakers icon again. Select "Playback Devices". In the window that opens, you should see your speakers (or headphones) marked with a green checkmark. If they are not displayed, click on an empty space in the window box. In the menu that appears, check the “Show disconnected devices” and “Show disconnected devices” options. Right-click on the devices that appear and click Enable. Confirm the action with the “Apply” and OK buttons.

Think back to your last actions on the computer. If you installed a new program or were cleaning and configuring your operating system, the recovery function can help. To start the procedure, open Control Panel and go to the Recovery section. Click the "Run System Restore" button. In the dialog box that opens, click “Next”. The restore point should be selected at the moment when the sound was played normally.

Installing codecs for playing music If appear while playing music or video files, the reason is the lack of necessary codecs. The simplest solution to this problem is to install the free K-Lite Codec Pack on your computer. You can download it from the manufacturer’s official website. Before installation, it is recommended to close all running programs. Be careful: installing codecs downloaded from unverified sources can lead to infection of your computer.

Checking your computer for viruses

Make sure your antivirus software database is up to date. Run a full virus scan and wait for the results. If the antivirus detects an infection, agree to the proposed actions. In addition to the standard antivirus program, you can use free utilities offered by developers. The best of them are Dr.Web LiveDisk and Kaspersky Security Scan. Please note that before checking, you must download the latest version of the application from the manufacturer's website.

How to update sound card drivers

Open Control Panel and select Device Manager. Find “Sound, video and gaming devices” in the list of equipment. Right-click on your audio card and click the Update Driver button. It is recommended to select automatic update. But you can manually point the system to the driver CD included when purchasing the card or a driver downloaded from the Internet saved on your hard drive.

How to correctly install the driver on a sound card

If there is no sound on the computer at all or is played jerkily, the occurrence of If due to the lack of drivers.

First of all, you need to determine which audio card you have installed. Go to Device Manager. Select the line with the audio card. Right-click and select Properties. Go to the “Details” section and in the scrolling list, click “Hardware ID”. Copy the contents of this line.

Go to the website http://devid.info/ru/. Paste the copied code into the search box and click Search. In a few minutes you will receive information about your sound card and driver archives. Select the latest driver that matches your operating system. Download the archive and unpack it. Run the installer. If the audio card is working properly, then sound should appear.

You can also determine the sound card model on the website http://www.pcidatabase.com/. To get information about a device on this resource, you need to enter the VEN (manufacturer) and DEV (device) values. Both parameters are specified in the copied code. Having determined the card model, go to the manufacturer’s official website and download the latest drivers.

In addition, you can use special programs to determine installed equipment. For example, the AIDA64 utility. You can download it from the manufacturer's website. The program is paid, but an unlimited trial version will work for a month.

If you have reinstalled the operating system to a more recent version, you can download drivers for all devices installed on your computer on the motherboard manufacturer’s website.

How to install sound card driver on Windows 8?

The absence of a driver on the audio card in the Windows 8 operating system can be determined by the volume control icon. At sound problem on computer it will be displayed in the tray with a red cross, indicating no sound. Click the regulator icon and Windows will begin the troubleshooting process. In the window that appears, point the system to the default sound device and click “Next”. After the system shuts down, click on the “Apply this fix” button.

As often happens, it only seems that sound problems in Windows operating systems are difficult to solve on your own. If you carefully analyze the “symptoms,” you can easily localize the possible cause of the abnormal “behavior” of your computer’s sound card.

As you know, any computing system consists of software and hardware parts. The first is drivers, codecs, shells, etc. Accordingly, the second is represented by components, better known under the term “hardware”. Obviously, problems with sound can be caused by both incorrect operation of the hardware component and control programs.

Although developers strive to make their products fairly reliable, breakdowns still happen. If you have problems with sound, then it is more rational to start searching for the cause by diagnosing the components. You need to make sure that the wire to the audio card has no visible damage - sometimes it is enough to simply crush it with furniture, partially damaging the wires, in order to get clicks, noises or complete silence in the audio stream (depending on how “lucky” you are). It is also useful to check the condition of the connector. Well, the champion in the number of complaints about sound is a broken conductor in the wire plug. To check, you can temporarily connect regular headphones to the output.

Much more often, problems with sound arise due to errors in software, sometimes completely unrelated to the audio stream. For example, it sometimes happens that the sound disappears after reinstalling the operating system, but before that everything worked. In this case, it can be argued that the reason is software.

Problems with sound in Windows 7, and in any other system, most often occur among beginners who forget to install drivers. These special programs, designed to control a particular device, are installed once. When purchasing a computer, you are given a disk on which drivers for all components of the motherboard are located - they must be installed, and immediately after installing the operating system.

If the card is discrete (separate), then a support disk should also come with it. An alternative option is to go to the motherboard manufacturer’s website, find your model, download and install the necessary drivers. By the way, you should not chase novelty by installing alpha and beta versions, since they are unstable in operation.

Problems with sound in Windows 7 can also be caused by the way this system works with the “direct sound” component. This is an audio stream output by the card itself, actively used in early versions of Windows systems. In “Seven” this feature has been abolished, since the mechanism for how applications work with the kernel has been significantly redesigned. Therefore, it is not advisable to use the ability to output sound through “direct sound” in programs, since distortion and noise are possible due to double conversion. For example, in the well-known Winamp player running under Win 7, you must specify the usual Wave Out in the output settings. So, here are two more possible reasons - drivers and correct output settings.

Sometimes wheezing in the speakers can occur due to the active Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communication modules. If they are not used they should be disabled.

The most common reason for no sound is turning it off or setting the volume to minimum. If there is no audio playing on your computer, hover over the speaker icon in the tray (right corner of the taskbar). The tooltip will indicate the current volume value. If the sound does not play in a separate application, check its settings. If it is enabled in the settings, audio playback in a specific program may be limited in the mixer. To check, right-click on the speaker icon and select “Open Volume Mixer.” There you can turn on the sound and adjust the volume level for each program running on the computer.

Check the volume on the playback devices themselves: headphones or speakers. When using speakers, also make sure they are connected to power and the power button is in the active position. Checking speakers or headphones is quite easy. To do this, just connect any other device to the audio output instead of a computer: a smartphone, a player.

Important! Also check your speaker settings. To do this, go to “Playback devices”, and in the context menu of speakers or headphones, click “Properties”.

Incorrect operation of audio drivers

Another common reason why there may be no sound on a computer is missing or damaged audio drivers. To identify this issue, hover over the audio icon in the tray. If the message “No audio output device is installed” appears, the problem is caused by the audio drivers.

To resolve these difficulties, right-click on the same icon and select “Detect sound problems” from the context menu.

This will open a troubleshooting window. Wait while the audio diagnostics run on your computer. Depending on the speed of the device, the process can take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. If the determination of the cause of the malfunction stops at one place, click “Cancel”.

When the sound diagnostics are completed, the system will offer you a choice on which device you want to troubleshoot. In this case, you need to note the device used based not on its type, but on the location of the audio input. For example, if your speakers are connected through the audio input on the front of your computer, check the second box even though it says headphones.

If there is a hardware fault, the diagnostic result will be the following window. It may indicate damage to the speakers or headphones, but most often the cause of difficulties in the operation of audio devices is broken or damaged connecting cables.

At the last step of sound diagnostics, the result of its execution will be displayed. If the problems are resolved, close the troubleshooter. If the diagnostics did not help, click “View additional options.” You can also find help information about the causes of malfunctions by clicking on the “View additional information” link.

Incorrect connection or installation of the device

Sound may not work due to improper connection or installation of audio devices. To resolve this issue, check that the correct input is selected to connect your device to your computer. Speakers or headphones may be connected to the microphone input, causing them to not work.

Go to “Control Panel -> Device Manager” and check the status in the “Sound, Game and Video Devices” menu. If a yellow mark with an exclamation mark is displayed next to the name, the cause of the problem is incorrect installation or malfunction of the device

Note! If your audio hardware is not showing up in the manager at all, update the configuration in the Actions menu.

Right-click on your audio hardware and select Properties, then go to the Driver tab in the window that opens. To update the configuration, click the "Update" button. Here you can remove the driver to reinstall it later.

In the next step, select where you want to search for sound drivers. Two options are offered: automatic search, which includes a search on your computer and the Internet, as well as a simple search for drivers. It is recommended to select the first option to detect drivers.

Important! If the sound card is outdated and its driver is on a separate disk, first copy it to your computer.

The scanning will take about 20-30 seconds, after which a message will be displayed in the search window indicating the successful installation of new audio drivers. If the device already has the latest available driver installed, the configuration will not be updated.

If updating the drivers did not bring the desired result and the device still does not work, it is recommended to remove it from the system. To do this, right-click on the name and select “Delete”. Confirm the deletion in the dialog box by clicking "OK".

After this, you need to update the list of equipment in the “Action” menu. A search will be performed for devices connected to the computer. If the desired device does not appear after searching, restart the manager.

When the speakers are found, their installation will begin automatically. This process may take several minutes. When finished, a message will be displayed indicating that the speakers have been successfully connected and are ready to use.

Damage to connecting cables

Standard 3.5 mm connectors can fail as a result of mechanical damage. Typically, failure occurs at the base of the connector - at the junction with the audio cable. The break may also be in the cord itself. The cause of damage is most often pinched by furniture (table legs, chair wheels). The cable can also be chewed by pets. You can diagnose a breakdown visually or by connecting another cable to the speakers.

Physical breakdown of audio equipment

There may be no sound on your computer if the speakers or headphones you are using fail. This is not difficult to determine - just connect another audio device to the same audio input. If it works, the reason is the broken speakers, and not the computer settings.

Windows Audio Service Disabled

Another common reason for no sound is that the Windows Audio service is disabled. This background process is responsible for processing audio data and is always running by default on a running computer. But if you make changes to the system settings, the Windows Audio settings may be incorrect. The service can also be disabled by malware.

Good day, dear readers Denis Trishkin is in touch.

One of the main reasons why a computer does not produce any sound is that the speakers are not connected correctly. At first glance, this seems ridiculous, but believe me, this happens to everyone, even the most experienced users.

Disabled in the system( )

Another simple option, and at the same time banal, may be a general shutdown, which is set in the setup program. Just click on the corresponding tray icon and turn it on. If there is no icon, go to " Control Panel" and then into "". There you will find all the necessary items.

No driver( )

To correct the situation, we make a few simple movements:


If this does not help, you need to go to the official website of the motherboard manufacturer and download the required distribution. How to configure further?

It's simple:


Everything should work. If not, then move on.

A complete reinstallation of system files allows you to completely update all connections between hardware and software. It turns out that this procedure makes it possible to do everything as it was originally. Many people want to know how to reset sound settings? The answer is simple - install new drivers, and your problem will be solved.

The service is not working( )

Under some circumstances, it happens that the corresponding service is simply not running. To restore sound balance, you need to enable the necessary command.

For this:


Via BIOS( )

It is rare, but you can still encounter a situation when the corresponding component of the motherboard needs to be enabled in the BIOS. Again, it is worth emphasizing that this can be observed on computers and laptops, inside of which very outdated parts are installed.

To solve the problem you need:


If this does not help, most likely you have problems with the hardware. It is necessary to make a diagnosis. It is usually carried out in specialized centers.

Microphone sound( )

Sometimes situations arise when you need to adjust the microphone sound. This is usually needed in games, when using web tools for conversation, or for scoring various video files. Regardless of the goals, we perform the same actions:

Front panel sound( )

Many PC users have often seen connectors for connecting devices for audio recording and playback on the front of their system unit. Often, after connecting the appropriate equipment, nothing happens. This is because the ports need to be connected first. So how does the front panel setup work?

First you need to open the system unit and check whether the outputs are connected to the motherboard.


On some motherboards, the BIOS menu is different from others, and the item we need sounds like “ Onboard Device Configuration" Here you need to check the “”. It must have the status " Enabled" If not, we assign the necessary one.

We find in the tray the audio manager responsible for our playback device. Let's launch it. Now you need to select the item in the menu that is responsible for the front panel.

Now everything should definitely work.

HDMI audio( )

Recently, computer users have been trying to redirect video playback to their TVs. But in addition to the picture, it would also be nice to hear the corresponding audio. To do this, adjust the HDMI audio.

By and large, there is not much to do:


Everything should now work as intended.

Sometimes in the “Playback Devices” window, you need to right-click on an empty space and check the boxes next to both proposed items: “ Disabled" And "".

Well, from the article it is clear that problems with sound can be very different. I tried to describe all the possible ones that I have ever encountered. If you've seen more, be sure to describe them in the comments.

I hope the information above helps you. Subscribe and share with friends.

Sound problems on a personal computer are a common occurrence. Most sound problems in Windows occur due to the absence or installation of corrupted audio drivers for a specific computer model. The best way to install audio is to use quality drivers and then run a scan so the software can recognize the wrong driver and download an updated version of the correct one.

In computer.

  • No sound
  • The sound may wax and wane
  • Sound may be interrupted or cut out in some places
  • The sound may be distorted or there may be noise during playback
  • The computer freezes or restarts

There are several standard techniques for troubleshooting sound problems for Windows XP.

  • Use the bug tracking system
  • Update sound card drivers
  • Update Media Player
  • Replace, install a new sound card

Use Windows prompts to troubleshoot audio problems

Windows XP has a built-in error tracking system. To use it, you need to do the following:


You can click Back at any time to repeat the previous step or press At first to restart the bug tracking system.

Updating sound card drivers

The easiest way to check and update your drivers is to use DirectX diagnostics. To run it, do the following:



Media Player Update

If you use Windows Media Player, go to the Microsoft website and download the latest version of this product. For players such as iTunes, Quick Time, Real Player and VLC media Player, the latest version can be downloaded from their manufacturer's website. If these measures do not help, try the next method.

Installation of technical support. Replacing the sound card.

If none of the above methods helped, then you have problems with technical support: either your cables or speakers are faulty or your audio card is damaged. Follow these steps to check the sound.

Replace the cable. If sound appears, then the problem is in the cable - it is the cause of the sound problem.

If there is no sound, replace the speakers. If sound is still playing after replacing the speakers, you will have to buy new ones.

If sound does not appear after replacing the speakers, try replacing the sound card. If it is different from the one you had, select the correct drivers for it. If the sound plays after replacing the sound card, then the problem is caused by the card.

If, after all the measures taken, the sound does not appear, either change the computer itself (maybe it’s all about the motherboard), or take the computer in for repair.