Windows 10: Audio completely gone.

Hello,


I've run into an issue on my desktop where audio no longer works. I initially thought it was a driver issue, so I checked my audio drivers for updates or problems, but there wasn't any reported issues. I went through a process of elimination to try and determine what had gone wrong.


- I checked the headphones I use on another device, they still worked fine.


- I then tried plugging the headphones into a 3.5mm jack to USB converter, to see if the port was broken, but there was still no audio, suggesting that it was the pc not outputting anything.


- I looked at an audio visualiser, then played some test sounds, and confirmed that the audio was playing.


In terms of attempting to resolve the issue, I spoke to a friend who is quite knowledgeable with IT, and in turn spoke to his dad, who is a retired IT technician. We reinstalled the audio drivers from realtek, which didn't work and also from Asus. We tried rolling back to a system restore point and then tried rolling back to the previous windows update pre broken and still it didn't work.


After trying a few other options booting into safe mode etc I decided to do a factory reset whilst keeping my files.


Once the reset was done I logged in and the audio still didn't work.


This really stumped me, there were probably some other things I tried, but I was at it for about 5 hours yesterday before I called it a night.


Any advice would be really helpful and much appreciated.

:)

 

No audio plays at all, playlists get skipped through completely.

Hi there Ethan, I will be your Independent Advisor for today, I hope we can both resolve your problem.

What I would suggest is to completely remove all the Audio drivers listed in the device manager.

Make sure to tick the box to delete the driver when uninstalling it.

Here is how to do it.

Here the steps to completely remove a Device off your computer.

Step 1. Use shortcut keys Win + X on Windows 10.

Step 2. Select Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the entry Sound and Audio devices. Right-click the device and select Uninstall device.

Step 4. You need to check the option Delete the driver software for this device, and then click the Uninstall button.

Step 5. Reboot the computer.

Please do this on all the drivers listed under Audio and then reboot.

 

Audio Problems

Hi there SimonWildZX, I will be your Independent Advisor for today, I hope we can both resolve your problem.

May I suggest to completely uninstall all Audio drivers listed in the Device manager including the headset. Please make sure to completely remove.

Here is how to do it.

Here the steps to completely remove a Device off your computer.

Step 1. Use shortcut keys Win + X on Windows 10.

Step 2. Select Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the entry Sound and Audio devices. Right-click the problematic device and select Uninstall device.

Step 4. You may need to check the option Delete the driver software for this device, and then click the Uninstall button.

Step 5. Reboot the computer.

Repeat the steps in all the Audio devices listed.

Then reboot. then test the headset again.

 

Windows Updated(16299.309).KB4088776 Restart is required to complete.

Hi dalchina. Good news, I followed your suggestion and reinstalled the update and now it appears as "installed correctly" *Biggrin Maybe it was not necessary to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter or maybe if necessary. But using it I do not think it could have worsened something. The installation was very fast, unlike the first time it showed step 1 and step 2 completed.

Thanks for the suggestions and for the time to respond Best regards.


And thanks for the tip of that program, I'll have it on my list.