Windows 10: "Select a sound output" from Taskbar Crashes and Wont Reopen until PC Restart

I am getting an intermittent error when I click "Select a sound output" from the taskbar. When I do get the error it hangs for about 2-3 seconds and then the popup closes and cannot be reopened until I restart my computer. I can still go into the "Volume mixer" in Windows settings to change the volume.How I can prevent this from happening or how can I restart the sound popup without restarting Windows?

:)

 

how to select the output audio speakers

To change the speaker output on Windows Media Player, you can try the following steps:

1. Open Windows Media Player.
   
2. Click on “Tools” and then “Options”.
   
3. Click on the “Devices” tab.
   
4. Click on “Speakers” and then “Properties”.
   
5. Select the audio device you want to use and click on “OK”.
   
6. You may also have to restart WMP for changes to take effect.
   

If the above steps don’t work, you can try changing the default sound device in Windows 11. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Open the Settings app by pressing the Windows key + I.
   
2. Click on “System” and then “Sound”.
   
3. Under the “Output” section, click on the “Choose where to play sound” setting.
   
4. Select the speakers, headphones, or headsets you want to use.
   

 

Windows Audio Crashes

My audio stops working when ever a mic is turned on.

On login, audio output works normally, however, when ever any mic is used, both audio input and output crash and a red x shows up on the taskbar audio icon.

It seems the Windows Audio service is what crashes.

After the first crash, the audio does not come back no matter what I do until I restart my pc.

I can replicate this with the following steps:

1. Login to pc
   • audio output working fine
2. Open sound settings, opens to playback tab
   • audio still fine and also able to play test sounds
3. Click on Recording Tab
   • The sound feedback indicator on the right side is missing
   • The window freezes, error window appears about DLL crash
   • If there is no connected or enabled recording device, nothing happens everything else seem to run normally
4. Proceed to follow various trouble shooting steps
   • Some troubleshooting steps seems to get rid of the red x on the taskbar volume icon
   • The recording tab in the sound settings is also now accessible
   • However things may seem fine at first, audio input/output is still not working and playing a test sound fails.

Solutions I've Tried:

• DISM (ended with no errors)
• sfc /scannow (found corrupted files, required restart)
• Restarting Windows Audio Service (results in err 1061, service then gets stuck on stopping)
• Disabling and re-enabling audio drivers
• Reinstalling audio drivers from manufacturers site
• Using windows generic audio drivers
• Restarting my PC

As you can see, I've spent a lot of time trying to fix this issue and it is starting to get really frustrating.

 

No Audio Output Device is Installed

Hi,

You will need to select Windows 8 from the drop down list while installing the driver in compatibility mode.

I would suggest you to try setting the speaker as default audio output by following the steps below and check if it helps.

1. Right click on the sound icon on the right bottom corner of the taskbar.

2. Select "playback devices".

3. If "speaker" is not set as the default device, highlight it and click "set as default".

5. Save the changes.

Let us know the result.