Windows 10: Windows audio service will not start

Three days ago I launched my PC and discovered there is no sound. I'm not sure whats causing it as I haven't made any software changes nor added any new audio devices.

I've tried numerous fixes attempting to start Windows audio service via services but I am always greeted with this error message despite attempting to do so with the only admin account on the PC:





This has lead me to believe it is an issue with windows itself and have tried to reset my system, only to be met with this error:





I've tried repairing the system using the SFC and DISM commands to be met with the following errors:





I've attached the logs of both the SFC and DISM results.

I'm really stumped as where to go from here. Any help would be greatly appcriciated!

:)

 

After running Audio troubleshooter error: 'one or more audio service isn't running'

Hi Peter,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community, we appreciate your interest in Windows 10.

As you receive the error message: 'one or more audio service isn't running', this might have occurred due to the audio services.

I suggest you to restart the service, set it to automatic and check if it helps.

Step 1: Stop the Windows Audio service.

• Press Windows Key + R on the keyboard and type
  services.msc, Services window gets opened.
• Search for Windows Audio service, right click on it and click on
  Stop.
• Restart the computer.

Step 2: Start the service and set it to automatic:

• Press Windows Key + R on the keyboard and type
  services.msc, Services window gets opened.
• Search for Windows Audio service, right click on it and click on
  Properties.
• Start the service, set
  Startup type to Automatic.

Hope it helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of this issue for further assistance.

 

Windows 10 Audio Service Can't Be Started

Suddenly my audio icon on the taskbar is marked with a red circle with an x in it and no audio plays. If I click on it, the troubleshooter starts and fails unable to fix the problem. Here is what I have tried so far:

• Opened the Services program and tried manually starting Windows Audio - I receive an Error 126: The specified module could not be found
• Restarted the Windows Audio Endpoint Builder and then tried to start Windows Audio again and received the same error
• Went into Device Manager and tried to update the audio drivers for HD Audio. No difference
• Booted in Safe Mode and the same issues persist.

This is a custom built PC that has seen no issues with audio for the past 6 years. The only hardware changes have been a couple graphics card upgrades and the last was probably ~6 months ago. No driver updates have been installed recently that would account
for the sudden change in status of my audio hardware.

Relevant Hardware:

• ASRock X58 Extreme3 Motherboard
• Intel i7-930
• ASUS Radeon RX470

Any suggestions on how to solve this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

The audio service is not running?!

Hello Abu,

Thank you for keeping us posted on the status of the issue. I would like to assist you further from here.

Please refer to the below steps to start the Audio service and cherck if it helps to resolve the issue

• Open Control Panel and select Administrative Tools, then View Local Services
• Look for "Windows Audio" NOT "Windows Audio Endpoint Builder"
  
  [Just click on any service, then press the letter "W" on your keyboard, it will take you to the services starting with the "w" letter]
• Right click on the "Windows Audio" service and choose "Properties"
• You will see 4 tabs, click on the last one, labeled "Dependencies"
• In that tab, you will see the "This service depends on the following system components" box, it displays 3 services.
  
  Beside each service there is a "+" icon, click on it to expand the list. The 2nd service will have 2 child services, the 3rd service will have 1 child service.
• Now make sure that all the 6 services (3 main, 3 child) have the "Started" status in the "Services" window you opened earlier.
• Most probably you will find one of those services are not running, just start all of them, then try to start the "Window Audio" service from the "General" tab.

However, if the issue is still unresolved, I would suggest you to
check if the same issue occur when logged in through a different user account.

Ref:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-set-up-accounts

Hope this helps.