Internet went down this morning, then after the internet was back up and working fine, a short power surge happened. Enough to start all the digital clocks in the house blinking. After that and waiting for Windows to open I had to reboot my router. When I got the system up and running again, I found I have no sound. Windows says it is working properly. What probably happened for me to loose sound like that. It's onboard sound. Win7

Try a different speaker plug-in on your computer, like the headphone jack.
I had that happen once, and it turns out the normal speaker plug-in went bad.
I used the headphone plug-in for my speakers until I eventually replaced the computer.

Check the application you are trying to play sound through, make sure it's not muted or the sound is turned down.

Laptop or Desktop?

If it's a desktop and you had power issues it's possible your desktop speakers need to be turned back on.

It would be helpful if you explained your speaker setup.

The sound card may be onboard, but we need to know how your speakers are set up. Is it an all-in-one computer? External speakers? Do you have a headphone jack? Have you tried testing it?

Replace hearing aid batteries!

Seriously, check the settings. Right click on the little speaker icon down by the clock, select settings. There's a pull down menu for Output. Check to make sure it wasn't changed to a monitor, TV, or whatever else you might have hooked up to that machine.

Sometimes Windows updates will cause that to change. Hope this helps.

Das re'Boot!?

Could be many things - the first thing I usually do is check the settings to make sure it is enabled and on the correct audio device (yes, even with on board it can have multiple devices listed).
Include inspecting the device manager and as mentioned try an alternate output device like headphones or speakers.

I’ll try to respond to everyone in one post. I tried all the speaker plugins on the computer to no avail. I can not try the headphone jack because I could not figure out how to connect that to the motherboard when I built this computer several years ago and didn’t really have any need for them at the time. There is no singular application I am trying to play sound thru. There is no sound no matter what I do.

This is a desktop. The speakers are small Harman/Kardon speakers with a sub woofer and they are turned on.

I have checked the settings by right clicking the speaker icon in the lower right hand corner and thru Device Manager and I have included screen shots of them below.


In the screen shot below there was an item that was on top of the 3 items you see and was marked as default and was working, but somehow while looking at the properties, I think I accidentally deleted it. I’m positive I hit cancel after looking at it, but I must have hit delete by accident and got no window asking me if I really wanted to delete it so it is gone. I have no clue if there is a way to get it back.



If I open the window below, I get no sound if I try to test any of the sounds. The test button remains grayed out.



The screen shot below is what I get thru Device Manager. It says this device is working, but it is not.



If it is the onboard sound that is fried, why am I getting messages that it is working?

If that is the problem, is it possible to rob the sound card from an old XP machine that I have not turned on in years and put it in my main computer?

get one of these for $9
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent...-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/

plug in your Harmon Kardon's and done. If you are an audio-file then you might not like the quality but it is what it is.

Correct me if i’m wrong, but S/PIF is a Digital output and your HK speakers are analog.

Methinks you are missing the analog output.
Will check my own puter.

0-0

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
Correct me if i’m wrong, but S/PIF is a Digital output and your HK speakers are analog.

Methinks you are missing the analog output.
Will check my own puter.

0-0

As I said above that screen shot, I’m missing that. It was there and working, even tho there was no sound, then it was gone, accidently deleted by me... I think. If I could get that back, that might just be one step to getting my sound back.... Maybe.

Try this,

If you know your way around, go to device manager.
On top, one of the tabs has the show hidden devices. Your missing one might be there.
Otherwise, there’s a refresh/ check for new hardware somewhere there too. Might be a right click at the top of tbe device tree. Doing this from memory.

A refresh/scan is likely to bring your device back since it has gone nowhere.
Keep me posted.

0-0

From the Desktop, right click on My PC/Computer.
Pick properties at the bottom of the list.
Top left, Device Manager.
On the Device Manager Window device list, right click at the top on your computer’s name…

Options are search for new hardware, etc.

Then look below where the sound devices are listed if your analog device is showing.

0-0

If you built the system the motherboard should have come with a CD and the audio drivers are on there (in case Windows doesn't automatically recognize). I'd go to the device manager, delete the device, restart the computer and see if Windows automatically installs it. If not, use the CD (or download the drivers off the MB's website) and reinstall the drivers that way. If you're using a headphone jack to connect your speakers it should be an analog output.

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
From the Desktop, right click on My PC/Computer.
Pick properties at the bottom of the list.
Top left, Device Manager.
On the Device Manager Window device list, right click at the top on your computer’s name…

Options are search for new hardware, etc.

Then look below where the sound devices are listed if your analog device is showing.

0-0

I tried that. It said it was installing new hardware but after some time I got an error message saying that the install failed.

quote:

Originally posted by Hildur:
If you built the system the motherboard should have come with a CD and the audio drivers are on there (in case Windows doesn't automatically recognize). I'd go to the device manager, delete the device, restart the computer and see if Windows automatically installs it. If not, use the CD (or download the drivers off the MB's website) and reinstall the drivers that way. If you're using a headphone jack to connect your speakers it should be an analog output.

I was thinking that I must have a CD somewhere that could reinstall the driver, but in doing some searching, I did find the driver right where it is supposed to be in Windows Explorer. Not totally sure where I should start looking for the motherboard CD. It should be in a certain place, but it’s been a few years. I’ll look for it tomorrow. I never connected the headphone jack to the motherboard.

quote:

Originally posted by wingspar:

quote:

Originally posted by Hildur:
If you built the system the motherboard should have come with a CD and the audio drivers are on there (in case Windows doesn't automatically recognize). I'd go to the device manager, delete the device, restart the computer and see if Windows automatically installs it. If not, use the CD (or download the drivers off the MB's website) and reinstall the drivers that way. If you're using a headphone jack to connect your speakers it should be an analog output.

I was thinking that I must have a CD somewhere that could reinstall the driver, but in doing some searching, I did find the driver right where it is supposed to be in Windows Explorer. Not totally sure where I should start looking for the motherboard CD. It should be in a certain place, but it’s been a few years. I’ll look for it tomorrow. I never connected the headphone jack to the motherboard.

How do you connect your speakers to the computer? Can you take a picture of the speaker connection and the back of your computer where you plug them in?


The reason why I ask is because just about every modern motherboard has onboard sound and the vast majority of computer speakers use the headphone jack. It's important to know if your speakers are connected digitally or via analog so you can match the output settings on your computer. I missed the part where you said you don't use the microphone jack so in order to be clear about what goes where, posting those pictures would help.


Assuming the hardware (speakers, cables and the computer onboard sound/sound card) is working properly, the next step is to reinstall the sound drivers (don't know if you're using onboard sound or a sound card) and with a clean reinstall you should be able to select the proper output to your speakers. If you don't use the motherboard, finding those drivers and reinstalling them isn't going to do any good if you use a sound card.

You don’t need the CD. Go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and download the sound drivers.

In device manager, you should have “Audio inputs and outputs”. Click on that and what does it say?

You should also have "Sound, video and game controllers”. Click on that and what does it say?

The picture below is from my computer:



Note it says Realtek(R) Audio in both places. That’s the manufacturer of the chips built into my laptop’s motherboard and probably 90% of motherboards out there.

Based on it being a Win 7 computer, I’m going to guess it’s at least 10 years old. It may just be that the audio chips on the motherboard went bad. If the device is in device manager, shows as working properly, and you’ve verified that your cord and speakers are working properly, then it’s certainly possible that some audio comment on your motherboard has failed preventing the output jacks from working. If that’s the case, then you have two choices: 1. New computer. 2. Get a sound card that either plugs in to an expansion slot on the motherboard, or into one of the computer’s USB port.

quote:

Go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and download the sound drivers.

Yep get the latest driver if they still have them available.


Sorry if I missed in your replies but have you tested your desktop speakers on another device?

It would help to know how your speakers are being connected USB or 3.5 mini?

Can you plug any other speakers/headphones in, that you know work, and see if you get any sound there?