Computer and Software Support


No Sound Troubleshooter

Read the Safety Procedures. Very Important!!!

To troubleshoot a no sound issue, follow the following steps

 

  1. Check Device Manager for any bangs

  2. Check to make sure volume is not muted and the volume is up.

  3. Make sure your speakers are connected correctly. (sometimes people will mistaken the wrong connector on the sound card and this can cause no sound)

  4. Make sure the speakers are turned on and the volume is up.

  5. Try the speakers on a stereo to see if they work or try another set of speakers. (Do not try the headphone jack on the CD-ROM. Their is some computers that the headphone jack doesn't work on).

  6. Make sure sound is selected in sound and multimedia

  7. If you have no sound icon by the clock, click here for help with this issue.

  8. Try limiting MSCONFIG

  9. You can try doing a System Restore 

  10. Remove Multimedia from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel

  11. Go to sound Icon in Control panel and remove Audio Codecs.

  12. Remove sound from Add/Remove Programs

  13. Make sure sound devices are deleted in Device manager. If they are there then delete them.

  14. Boot to Safe mode

  15. When your in Safe Mode, see if there is any Ghost drivers in Device manager. (If there is, try to delete them. It may or may not let you delete them.)  

  16. Boot to the BIOS. Try setting BIOS to default and clear NVRAM. Click here for info on setting the BIOS.  

  17. Some motherboards will let you set it to Maintenance Mode. Please consult your manual or manufacturer on assistance on that procedure.

  18. Reinstall sound card drivers.

  19. Reseat the sound card in the computer.  

  20. Try a modem or another PCI card you know works in the slot that the sound card was in.

  21. Try removing all PCI cards except for the sound card. Sometimes another PCI card can conflict with another card.

  22. If you have another system with a sound card, you can try that sound card on this system and try this sound card with that system.

  23. If you have a CD that has Diagnostics on it (most manufacturers have diags on their disk. Contact the manufacturer for information on running the diags.) If you have sound running diags in DOS, your sound card works and it is  a software issue.

  24. Use Software Troubleshooter to troubleshoot your system.

  25. If you have verified that all hardware is working, then it is a software issue. Try running a repair of Windows. (Click the operating system for instructions) NOTE: This can harm your data. Safe any files you don't want to loose before following this step!  Windows XP

  26. If you are still having trouble with the sound, you may want to contact the computer manufacturer or the manufacturer of the sound card. They have more information on the system or sound card than I would.

  27. If you have tried everything and still have no sound, you may want to save your personal files and do a reinstall of the operating system.

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